Saddam executed!

[DavidI]

Will Saddam Execution Spur Terror Attacks?
U.S. Officials Urge Vigilance At Home; U.S. Forces In Iraq Poised For Surge In Violence
Slideshow: The Last Days Of Saddam
CBS News Interactive: Saddam's Judgment
(AP) BAGHDAD Government officials said Friday that people should be vigilant about the possibility of a terror attack associated with Saddam Hussein's impending execution in Iraq.

But an advisory that the FBI and the Homeland Security Department sent to local law enforcement agencies and intelligence community figures was routine and did not cite any specific threat.

Intelligence and security officials in Europe, where several terror plots were thwarted earlier this year, have cited a high risk of a terror attack by Islamic militants during the holiday travel season.

"We currently have no credible, specific intelligence indicating any imminent threat against the Homeland or corroborating that individuals in the Ba'ath party or others loyal to Saddam are prepared to carry out any activities in the United States," said FBI spokesman Richard Kolke.

"As we have in the past, DHS and the FBI will continue to share our intelligence assessments with our federal, state, local, and private sector partners to keep them informed of relevant information that we receive."

The bulletin also went to state homeland security advisers, federal departments and agencies, state emergency managers and state and local law enforcement agencies.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon said that U.S. fighting forces in Iraq are ready for any escalation of violence there — even as condemned former President Saddam Hussein waged an 11th-hour appeal in American courts to spare his life.

"U.S. forces in Iraq are obviously at a high state of alert anytime because of the environment that they operate in and because of the current security situation," said spokesman Bryan Whitman.

Whitman said U.S. forces will "obviously take into account social dimensions that could potentially led to an increase in violence which certainly would include carrying out the sentence of Saddam Hussein."

The administration, meantime, sent out an advisory saying that Americans should be vigilant about the possibility of an attack. The routine advisory the FBI and the Homeland Security Department sent to local law enforcement agencies and intelligence community figures did not cite any specific threat.

"We currently have no credible, specific intelligence indicating any imminent threat against the Homeland or corroborating that individuals in the Ba'ath party or others loyal to Saddam are prepared to carry out any activities in the United States," said FBI spokesman Richard Kolko.

For its part, the White House declined Friday to talk about the timing of Saddam's execution.

Deputy White House press secretary Scott Stanzel, talking to reporters Friday from Crawford, Texas, where President Bush was vacationing, said the hanging of Saddam was a matter for the sovereign Iraqi government. Earlier, the White House said the appeals court decision to uphold the sentence marked an important milestone for the Iraqi people's efforts to replace the rule of a tyrant with the rule of law.

At the Pentagon, Whitman said U.S. military forces "stay at a constant state of high readiness in Iraq and I would expect through this period they would do the same."

He wouldn't comment further on any potential troop movements to strengthen security for the execution, but said the commanders in Iraq have the ability to move forces as they deem appropriate based on conditions on the ground.

Whitman also said he wouldn't comment on anything that President Bush might be contemplating in terms of changing U.S. war policy in Iraq or in connection with the intensive administration review now under way on American strategy there.

In related developments:

Leaders in one of the United States' largest Arab-American communities said Saddam's execution will increase violence overseas and will not help the Iraqi people.

December was shaping up to be one of the worst months for Iraqi civilian deaths since The Associated Press began keeping track in May 2005. Through Thursday, at least 2,139 Iraqis have been killed in war-related or sectarian violence, an average rate of about 76 people a day, according to an AP count.

The U.S. military says three more Marines have been killed in battle in Iraq. With at least 106 deaths, that makes December the deadliest month this year for American troops.

A suicide bomber killed at least nine people near a Shiite mosque north of Baghdad, and 32 tortured bodies were found across the country Friday.

American troops killed six people and destroyed a weapons cache in separate raids in Baghdad and northwest of the Iraqi capital, the U.S. military said.

Iraqi forces backed by U.S. troops entered a mosque southeast of Baghdad, capturing 13 suspects and confiscating weapons, the U.S. military also said.

A suicide bomber wearing an explosives belt detonated himself near a Shiite mosque in Khalis, 50 miles north of Baghdad, killing nine people and wounding about a dozen, police said.

Twenty-two bodies showing signs of torture were found dumped on the streets of the Iraqi capital Friday, and 10 more were found in Baqouba northeast of Baghdad, police and morgue officials said.

[Rick Lee]

I wish they had tortured him first and made him watch his family get executed too. Would love to piss on his grave one day.

[Sonic dB]

It is quite possible that in order that that "society" to be warless, another "strongman" will have to rule.

[island911]

Originally posted by Sonic dB
It is quite possible that in order that that "society" to be warless, another "strongman" will have to rule.

You mean like post ww2 Japan?

Next....

[billyboy]

made him watch his family get executed too.

He already did that... 40 of his own relatives at last count.

[Sonic dB]

You mean like post ww2 Japan?

lol... As if post ww2 Japan was a society devided by 1000 years of scarred tribal/religious bloody differences + throw in an abundance of the worlds most valuable resource?
You can't compare the two.

[svandamme]

i think he got off easy, they should have left him alive, and imprisoned with zero perks other then a hole in the floor for nr1's and nr2's

he also should have been tried by the international court instead of by his own kind, and tried for all his crimes instead of just these few...to much left uncovered, he'll still be a martyr in the eyes of some, instead of having been exposed as the coward he really was

[dtw]

Wow. Just Wow.

If you're an imperialist Bush'ist junta member, just put aside the rhetoric for a moment.

And if you're a treehugging commie liberal granola, put aside the righteous indignation for a moment.

This is really bigger than whatever VRWC member's or liberal nutbar's administration is in office. These are amazing times we are living in.

A real chance for a long-oppressed people to define their own futures. Do they see the chance before their eyes and will they grasp it?

[svandamme]

Originally posted by dtw
Wow. Just Wow.

If you're an imperialist Bush'ist junta member, just put aside the rhetoric for a moment.

And if you're a treehugging commie liberal granola, put aside the righteous indignation for a moment.

This is really bigger than whatever VRWC member's or liberal nutbar's administration is in office. These are amazing times we are living in.

A real chance for a long-oppressed people to define their own futures. Do they see the chance before their eyes and will they grasp it?

i think you are overrating the significance of his death, he was a thug, he was just a very successfull thug

chance for oppressed people? they were "liberated" years ago, what have they done so far with the chances before their eyes?
did they step up to the plate? how loyal and efficient are the few that actually stood up and join their own police forces ( considering they are in it for the moola not out of idealism)

nothing changed today, not really

[dtw]

Originally posted by svandamme
i think you are overrating the significance of his death, he was a thug, he was just a very successfull thug

chance for oppressed people? they were "liberated" years ago, what have they done so far with the chances before their eyes?
did they step up to the plate? how loyal and efficient are the few that actually stood up and join their own police forces ( considering they are in it for the moola not out of idealism)

nothing changed today, not really

Whatever! I'm overrating it, fine. I think you're underrating it. Nothing changed today but I look to tomorrow with hopes for fresh change after the last 2-3 bungled years. If you had lived under his regime and he was now turning grey under a sheet, you might now be achieving the mental critical mass to start really thinking about your future. I take no exception to your citation of the lackluster response of the collective 'people' thus far and you'd see I raised the same questions days ago here on this forum. Nonetheless, a minor event like this can be a catalyzing event for a people. If they continue on as mindless drones then feel free to call me out after an appropriate period - it isn't really my loss, now is it?? My thoughts & prayers lie with these people right now, hoping they now take action to determine their own fates (the more attentive of the whingers might note that this would quicker enable the US to Pull the Fcuk Out). What you call overestimation I call hope, and what I call underestimation I might also call apathy.

[alf]

I could not help but feel a sense of remorse and sadness to learn of someone, anyone, executed.

[livi]

I agree with Stijn and Alf.

Regardless that he obviously was one of histories most grotesque criminals in good company with Hitler and Stalin, a society should not kill people for revenge. He should have gotten several life sentences imprisoned under very harsh conditions. No contact with other people and three square meals of lutfisk every day.

[Victor]

Is it ignorant to think the world was a more peaceful place when Saddam was ruling Iraq instead of GWB?

[livi]

Originally posted by Victor
Is it ignorant to think the world was a more peaceful place when Saddam was ruling Iraq instead of GWB?

Well, it is a bit provocative. At least at an American forum, I suppose. Worth contemplating though. Depends partly on definition of peace. Not that he was a 'better' choice in any way. But evaluating the degree of peace all in all. I donīt know. Probably depends on who you are asking on the streets of Baghdad.

[svandamme]

Originally posted by livi
I agree with Stijn and Alf.

Regardless that he obviously was one of histories most grotesque criminals in good company with Hitler and Stalin, a society should not kill people for revenge. He should have gotten several life sentences imprisoned under very harsh conditions. No contact with other people and three square meals of lutfisk every day.

no offence Markus, but rating him as high a crook as either Hitler or Stalin , is to much credit

furthermore, it would have made him proud to be named along with the other 2 who he openly admired

as for killing for revenge, that's not really my motive for beeing against his execution, i just think he got of lightly and executing him is essentially what he preferred over life imprisonment, (realistically another 10-15 years in solitary), and he preferred that for several reasons :

- makes him a martyr to some
- less of an embarrasement to die the short way then to rot away in prison
- died in his own country as opposed to abroad
- execution gives his messed up ego a sense of victimisation

several reasons that allowed him to never admit to his deeds, and instead go down with more dignity then he deserves...for instance how he even in his last minutes, maintained some control by refusing the hood...

[Victor]

The average Joe (regardless of geographical location) could not have given 2 hoots about Iraq before GWB took over.

Most Joe's still can't point to Iraq on a map. Though they will start Wikipedia-ing around about . . . . .. . . .. .


.....


....

...............NOW!

[svandamme]

Originally posted by Victor
The average Joe (regardless of geographical location) could not have given 2 hoots about Iraq before GWB took over.

Most Joe's still can't point to Iraq on a map. Though they will start Wikipedia-ing around about . . . . .. . . .. .


.....


....

...............NOW!

lol

[livi]

I know what you meant, Stijn.

I was kind of making a joint summary of yours and alfīs points.

[fastpat]

Since everyone else is denegrating a dead man, I'll post his positives.

First, most, virtually all in fact, of what American's "know" about Saddam Hussein was disinformation created by Amad Chalabi, a paid US government shill. Both Clinton and Bush paid him, something like $300,000 to $400,000 per month, allegedly in support of his "government" in exile the Iraqi National Congress. What that organization really was, and still is, was a capital appreciation fund for Amad Chalabi, an international swindler and wanted bank extortionist.

But, enough about that.

Hussein kept the lid on seething conflicts between Sunni, Shi'ia, and Kurdish ethnic groups; and among the various extended families in the artificial country of Iraq, as many know Iraq was created by the British who made sure the oil rich province of Kuwait was NOT made a part of greater Iraq for the profit of British Petroleum. For other wonderful results of British patronage see Israel/Palestine, Jordan, Arabia, Uganda, South Africa, Rhodesia, and much more.

Under Hussein; most people had advanced schooling (compared to what came before and including women), wore western dress, could worship freely including Christians and Jews, produced more food than they consumed, and via oil revenues could buy what wasn't manufactured in Iraq.

For negatives Hussein was probably about average in brutality in the region. Approximately 3500 people were put to death in Iraq every year for various reasons, including petty crimes, murder, and crimes against the state. Hussein invaded Iran at the behest of the Reagan/Bush I regime costing him the deaths of nearly one million Iraqi's, mostly conscripted soldiers. Did that bother the US government, no, it did not. Nor did Hussein's methods of keeping "law and order" in Iraq bother the US government. It was the timerity of Hussein's demand that the US government/British government protectorate of Kuwait stop stealing Iraqi oil that was the insult, and when Bush I gave Hussein the green light to punish Kuwait by invading it, an excuse for punishing Hussein was handed to the US government, and to others.

Ultimately, Hussein's biggest negative was that he really didn't have sufficient world view, and had no idea of the level of murderous treachery that the Bush family is capable of, and so both he and Iraq suffered for that.

Hussein isn't troubled by that any longer, but America still suffers on under the Bush family's tender mercies.

[VaSteve]

Originally posted by alf
I could not help but feel a sense of remorse and sadness to learn of someone, anyone, executed.

I'm not sure sadness is what I felt but, yes, weird that someone with so much personality/status/notoriety/whatever was so swiftly executed and physically died like every other homo sapien. I think the fact that it was so swift, no years of appeals like we give every ****bag murderer here, makes it all the more "weird".