Saddam Execution Thread

[Srirangan]

Madrid Airport Car Bombed.

Multiple Attacks in Baghdad.

[Srirangan]

Madrid Airport Bomb Blast: http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/eu.../madrid.blast/

A powerful explosion apparently caused by a car bomb caused extensive damage to Spain's busiest airport Saturday, an airport official said, but there were no reports of casualties.

The parking lot explosion followed a warning to police, who were able to evacuate part of Madrid's Barajas International Airport. It was not clear who gave the warning.

Police received the warning at 8:15 a.m., telling them the bomb would detonate in 45 minutes, the official said.

Terminal four, which serves Iberia Airlines and its partners, has been closed, although the airports three other terminals are still operating, the official said.

Witnesses described a huge column of smoke billowing out from the scene of the blast.

Samantha Graham, an employee of CNN's parent company who was in an airport concourse for a flight, said hundreds of people evacuated the terminal through jetways and have gathered outside on the airport tarmac.

CNN's Madrid bureau chief Al Goodman said the explosion caused a collapse of part of the airport terminal and extensive damage to glass.

Goodman said that previous explosions preceded by a warning in Spain were attributed to the Basque separtist group ETA, blamed for more than 800 deaths during a decades-long bombing campaign.

ETA, which was fighting for an independent homeland in northern Spain, earlier this year declared a permanent ceasefire, although this has faltered in recent weeks, Goodman said.

Spanish state radio reported that a caller claiming to be a member of ETA said the group had planted a bomb, Reuters reported.

In March 2004, 191 people were killed by bomb attacks on Madrid commuter trains. The attacks, blamed on al-Qaeda-linked militants, were not preceded by any warning.

Barajas airport is Spain's busiest, handling more than 40 million passengers a year, according to the airport's official Web site.

[Srirangan]

I'm saddened seeing the footage of Saddam's execution being distributed all across the press. I don't think he should have been spared but atleast some respect should've been shown and not have his hanging televised.

[Ray]

The trial of Saddam Hussein was flawed and there is no doubt about that. It was a kangaroo court.

Whatever goodwill the US had is now gone down the drink!

The hands of all those non US countries who were trying to combat WoT has been weakened. Musharraf is a dead man if he steps in the help the US. India US strategic partnership will be in serious jeopardy if what the news here is indicating.

The Islamic world will not be more united than ever and the worse days for the world is on the cards, once the shock is over.

One of the most stupidest actions ever.

US and Allies can stay in Iraq forever or go back like Vietnam!

Standby for real mayhem!

The Iraqis did it, but all will believe it was done under US orders!

There is no doubt that the Iraqi regime was dead scared of Saddam and so they wanted him out of the way and they are clever since they knew they could indirectly at a later date indicate slyly that it was but the orders of Bush and the US.

[Ray]

If Saddam could direct the Baathists from the prison, either the Iraqis and the Americans were the most incompetent of idiots or it proves that Saddam is popular.

Take your choice.

This type of a theory is as flawed as the WMD in Iraq theory perpetuated by the Bush regime to justify their blatant aggression on a sovereign nation.

Indeed if Saddam is a criminal, so are many tinpot dictators around the world,

Why have they not been brought to justice?

Saddam has been silenced because he would be a threat to all if free!

[smilingassassin]

http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/Top...howbyline=True

Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein met a grim end Saturday, as he was led to the gallows in handcuffs and hanged for his role in the killings of 148 Shiite Muslims.

Millions of Iraqis are believed to have stayed up all night to watch news of the event on TV. State television aired national songs after the first announcement, and had a crawl on the screen that read: "Saddam's execution marks the end of a dark period of Iraq's history."
Government officials have said that photos of the execution were taken, and will be released soon.
A witness said Saddam was handcuffed before he was brought into an execution chamber and did not resist. He also said there was visible fear on his face before he was hanged, but he refused to wear a head-covering.
Saddam, 69, was convicted for his role in the 1982 killings of 148 people in a primarily Shiite town north of Baghdad. The victims had been detained after an attempt to assassinate him in Dujail, northern Iraq.
Mariam al-Rayes, a former member of the Shiite bloc in parliament, told Iraqiya television that the execution "was filmed and God willing it will be shown. There was one camera present, and a doctor was also present there."
Edward Peck, former U.S. ambassador to Iraq, said the execution could actually do more harm than good for the country.
"I don't think this is going to advance America's interests in Iraq at all," said Peck, arguing it could spark further sectarian violence.
Late Friday, a U.S. judge dismissed a last-minute court challenge by Saddam's lawyers, who had argued the execution should be stayed because Saddam also faced a civil lawsuit in Washington.
The judge said the U.S. courts could not interfere with another country's judicial system, according to AP.
Saddam had been formally in Iraqi custody since his capture three years ago, but physically held by U.S. military guards at Camp Cropper, a military prison near the Baghdad airport.
The administration of U.S. President George Bush had said the timing of the execution was a matter for the sovereign Iraqi government.
"That is a matter for the Iraqi people; we are observers to that process. They are a sovereign government and they will make their own decisions regarding carrying out justice," White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said in Crawford, Texas.
Saddam himself had appeared to be preparing himself for the hanging on Friday. AP reported his half-brothers visited him in his jail cell and he gave them his will.
And in a final farewell letter posted Wednesday on Saddam's former Baath Party website, he urged Iraqis not to retaliate against American citizens.
"I call on you not to hate because hate does not leave space for a person to be fair and it makes you blind and closes all doors of thinking," he wrote in Arabic. The Associated Press translated the letter.
Hussein added: "I also call on you not to hate the people of the other countries that attacked us."
Saddam's half-brother Barzan Ibrahim and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, the former chief justice of the Revolutionary Court, were also reportedly hanged, although their deaths have not been confirmed.
U.S. forces in Iraq are preparing for any attacks following the execution, U.S. Defence Department officials say.
Saddam was also in the middle of another trial, in which he was charged with genocide and other crimes during a 1987-88 military crackdown on Kurds in northern Iraq.
That trial was adjourned until Jan. 8, but experts have said the trial of Saddam's co-defendants is likely to continue despite his execution.
Coalition forces stopped capital punishment in Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, arguing the court system was incapable of rendering fair decisions.
But the Iraqi government reinstated the death penalty after the handover in June 2004, partly in order to have the option of executing Saddam if the High Tribunal found him guilty.
The Iraqi government has since released footage of some executions, showing convicts lined up in a row with black hoods covering their faces. Saddam rarely made executions public during his rule.
With files from The Associated Press

[Karthik]

I just saw the video of Saddam getting lead onto the execution platform. Quite disturbing actually. Gruesome.

Those who lead him were all masked. It looked more like a barbaric act with those guys all appearing in a hurry to kill him.

[Officer of Engineers]

Of course, it's barbaric. It's an execution but it had to be done. Whether anyone agrees with this or not, the simple truth is that Saddam's life depended on his power. Once he lost that, he lost his life.

[Karthik]

Was it wise to broadcast that execution on national television?

There's already been an attack on Kufa.

Let no more blood be spilled on account of this man! Or am I just being optimistic?

[Ray]

Do we see fear?

Or is it the media's spin to make a murder appear more macabre?

Propadanda and disinformation must have credibility!

[Officer of Engineers]

Wise, I don't know. Would it made a difference to keep it behind closed doors? Not one bit. Those who needs to retalliate will retalliate anyway.

And let's not forget something here. The majority of the Iraqis are dancing in the streets because of this.

[Ray]

The show on TV has only opened wounds and for which the innocents will pay a price at the hands of the terrorists.

Didn't see anyone dancing. Of course, it all depends on which part of the world you are since the TV is based on the sentiments to be displayed!

But I am sure the world will dance soon!


The issue of Saddam is not a cut and dried case of muder. It has politics in the background. Dirty politics.

Therefore, there will be partisan opinions and since the Sunnis lead in the art of terrorism, the world can take guard as they do in cricket.

Why does it worry me?

Because Islamic terrorism is in our lifestyle and the fools have played into the hands of such elements!

I just hope that Bush and his Adminsistration does not open their trap and put a foot in their mouth. Instead they should shut up and let the situation ride like the murder of Zulfikar Bhutto!

[highsea]

Of course, it's barbaric. It's an execution but it had to be done. Whether anyone agrees with this or not, the simple truth is that Saddam's life depended on his power. Once he lost that, he lost his life.

Hear Hear.

More cartoons.

Either that, or lock the thread. It's over.

[Ray]

Why lock the thread?

Afraid that the truth will spill out and the Kangaroo court's misdemeanour and miscarrage of fairness exposed?

Why be afraid if justice has prevailed. Be afraid only if one has done miscarriage of justice and perpetuated in murder!

[Asim Aquil]

Saddam's been executed for the crimes he committed when he was a US Ally. I wonder how they can excuse the US government from scrutiny in all this?

He dies an innocent man on his crimes against the Kurds and all the rest.