ADN

I would've sparred his life for the location of the missing WMD's, but that's just my opinion.

But remember, they didn't have any. If they did, I really doubt that he would have given them that info even for his life. He's way to proud to do that

Yes they did, it's unaccounted-for, big difference from never being there.

Exactly..
Why do you think he classifies as 'an evil dictator'? lol

I agree with trash though, Saddam wouldn't know, and if he did, he'd never tell..
Probably sold off, but as I said, Saddam sure has no idea where they are..

I have no doubt that they did have WMD, but I dont' think they are still there. Like you said WAI, they are probably all sold off and Saddam has no idea where they are

wow. amazing.

guerrir le mal par le mal huh?!

good going! /rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":rolleyes:" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" />

camera phone video

Top Iraqi source: U.S. tried to delay execution


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. officials reportedly tried to delay last week's execution of Saddam Hussein, fearing it would fuel perceptions the death of the former Iraqi dictator was more about Shiite retribution and less about justice.

Those fears seemed borne out by an amateur recording of Hussein's last moments.

It was a caution that fell on deaf ears, however, as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shiite, was determined to put Hussein to death before the beginning of the Eid al-Adha holiday.

The holiday began at sunrise Saturday for Iraqi Sunnis on Sunday for Shiites.

Hussein, a Sunni, was executed 6 a.m. Saturday (10 p.m. Friday ET).

Official: U.S. wanted to wait two weeks

By midday Friday, amid reports and public denials that the United States had given Iraqis custody of Hussein, American officials were talking privately with al-Maliki, according to a member of the Iraqi parliament close to the prime minister.

At one point, the parliament member said, a top U.S. official suggested a delay of two weeks.

Al-Maliki and his aides rejected that, the Iraqi official said, citing security concerns and rumors of possible violence swirling around the capital.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi official said, the Americans asked for written documentation to make sure the execution was legal under the Iraqi constitution.

There was one final hurdle: Would President Jalal Talabani, a Sunni Kurd who opposes the death penalty, object to the execution?

A phone call later Friday between al-Maliki and the president ended with a decision that Talabani's signature was not needed.

No explanation for the decision was given.

Late Friday night, the parliament member told CNN, top U.S. officials met with al-Maliki's deputies to work out when the handover should take place, along with other logistical arrangements.

At that point, Iraqi officials told the media that al-Maliki had signed the last crucial document.

Conflicting accounts of Hussein's demeanor
Hussein's delivery to the gallows went by the book.

He was transported from his holding cell at Camp Cropper to the execution site, a building where Hussein's intelligence officers had hanged so many others.

There, he was handed over to Iraqi security.

Two witnesses have given conflicting accounts on his bearing as he walked to his death. Iraq's national security adviser, Mowaffak al-Rubaie, called him "a broken man."

"He was staring at me, and I was sort of looking at him as well, in a forceful way," he said. "And then he said -- he was telling me, don't be afraid. Of course, you know, this is -- he's afraid, so he was frightened."

But a top judge -- Munir Haddad of the Iraqi Supreme Appellate Court, which upheld the death sentence -- saw Hussein differently.

"I was very surprised," he said. "He was not afraid of death."

Cell-phone video

The official government video of the execution was released without sound and ends when the noose is put around Hussein's neck.

But a crude cell-phone video leaked less than 24 hours later goes much further -- showing bitter exchanges between Hussein and his Shiite guards.

After Hussein offers prayers, the guards shout praise for Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shiite cleric whose father is believed to have been murdered by Hussein's regime.

They chant, "Muqtada! Muqtada! Muqtada!"

Hussein smiles.

"Is this how you show your bravery as men?" he asks.

"Straight to hell," someone shouts back at him.

"Is this the bravery of Arabs?" Hussein asks.

A sole voice is heard trying to silence the taunts.

"Please, I am begging you not to," the unknown man says. "The man is being executed."

Another shout, "Long live Mohammed Baqir Sadr" -- referring to Muqtada al-Sadr's father-in-law and a founder of the Shiite Dawa movement who was executed by the Hussein regime. Dawa is al-Maliki's party.

The taunts continued, and the trapdoor dropped shortly after 6 a.m. Saturday. Hussein was hanged.

Immediately after, Shiite witnesses danced around his body, chanting celebratory slogans.

On Sunday, the U.S. military transported Hussein's body for burial at his home village of Awja near Tikrit, where Sunnis took to the streets loudly calling the former Iraqi president a hero and a martyr.

The grainy, dark video has outraged Sunnis, while Shiites have scrambled to see for themselves that Hussein was dead.

"It's something amazing," said Abbas Mansour, owner of a mobile-phone store in Baghdad. "No one really believed that Saddam would be executed because the people were so scared of him and his regime.

"So anything of him, on TV or on mobile phones, they want to see it. It's like a thirst that cannot be quenched. Even little kids are looking for it."

Mahmoud Askar, a Kurd who believes Hussein deserved to be hanged for his crimes, does not agree with the way it was carried out.

"The way the whole thing was filmed was a bad decision by the government, and ultimately helped Saddam because people sympathize with him," he said.

U.S. military officials would not comment for this story, saying the execution proceedings were matters handled by the Iraqis.

Saddam video inquiry promised


BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Hundreds of Sunni Arabs gathered to show their anger and grief for Saddam Hussein on Tuesday as the Iraqi government promised an investigation into illicitly filmed footage of Shi'ite officials taunting him on the gallows.

The sectarian passions that have pushed Iraq toward civil war could be further inflamed by the video of the execution, apparently shot on a mobile phone, showing people chanting the name of Shi'ite cleric and militia leader Moqtada al-Sadr.

As President Bush pondered a new strategy for the unpopular war, new figures from the Iraqi Interior Ministry showed the number of civilians killed in political violence reached a record high in December.

Hailed by Washington as a milestone for Iraqi democracy, Saddam's execution seems to have deepened sectarian divisions.

A leading member of the Sunni Arab's largest parliamentary bloc said on Tuesday footage showing Shi'ite officials mocking Saddam as he was about to he hanged had damaged Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's attempts at national reconciliation.

"The big question now is how serious is the government in calling for national reconciliation. It now has to prove it," Saleem al-Jibouri of the Iraqi Accordance Front told Reuters.

Saddam's grave in his native village, Awja, drew hundreds more mourners on Tuesday, as it has each day since he was buried in the dead of night early on Sunday.

Several hundred people marched through the northern city of Mosul carrying portraits of Saddam and banners proclaiming him a martyr and a hero. Sunni neighborhoods in Baghdad and other towns have seen similar demonstrations since Saturday.

The rapid execution, just four days after the failure of an appeal, boosted Maliki's fragile authority among his fractious Shi'ite supporters but angered many Sunnis. The timing, on the first day of the Eid al-Adha holiday, has caused particular outrage, along with the video.

INVESTIGATION PROMISED

An aide to the prime minister said the government was investigating how people filmed and taunted Saddam on the gallows, turning his execution into a televised spectacle.

Khudayer al-Khuzai, deputizing for the justice minister who was abroad, said it appeared some guards violated instructions not to bring mobile phones or cameras.

"The Iraqi government is going to have an investigation into what happened," he said. "This operation should be done with the highest standards of discipline and with respect for the condemned man, both when he's alive and once he's dead.

"Anything that did not meet those standards should be accounted for."

Washington has identified the Mehdi Army, a militia loyal to Sadr, as the biggest threat to Iraq and has urged Maliki to crack down on its illegal activities.

Maliki relies on the support of Sadr's political movement in parliament and government -- an uneasy relationship illustrated by the presence of Sadr supporters at Saddam's execution.

There has been no significant repeat of a series of car bombings that killed more than 70 people in Shi'ite neighborhoods on Saturday within hours of the dawn execution, but the government and U.S. forces are on alert.

Iraqi Interior Ministry figures, almost certain to be an underestimate, showed 12,320 civilians were killed in 2006 in what officials term "terrorist" violence.

The figures are generally viewed as a guide to trends but give only a partial sampling of deaths.

The ministry figure of 1,930 civilian deaths in December is three-and-a-half times the equivalent of 548 last January, before last year's surge in sectarian killing which followed the destruction of a major Shi'ite shrine in February.

The figures also showed 1,231 policemen were killed in 2006 and 602 Iraqi soldiers.

All such statistics are controversial in Iraq. A figure of 3,700 civilian deaths in October, the latest tally by the United Nations based on data from the Health Ministry and the Baghdad morgue, was described as exaggerated by the Iraqi government.

The U.N. figure shows about 120 civilians died each day.

Bush plans to unveil a new strategy this month after the 3,000th soldier to die in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion was killed just before New Year. At least 112 Americans died in December, the deadliest month for them in more than two years.

I just saw this now and I feel shocked.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqc2mjict4g



I don't fucken care, no matter what it feels inhumane to watch another human being die. Callous mass murderer or not, it's still terrible to witness.