The cacophony from those gathered before the gallows included a shout of "Go to hell!" as the former ruler stood with the noose around his neck in the final moments, and his riposte, barely audible above the bedlam, which included the words "gallows of shame." It continued despite appeals from an official-sounding voice, possibly Munir Haddad, the judge who presided at the hanging, saying, "Please no! The man is about to die."
--NYTimes
The story now emerging, in the wake of the widely-circulated cell phone video of Saddam Hussein's execution is that it was, in the words of pro-American correspondent for satellite station Al Arabiya, "a disaster."
More on this sad story after the jump...
American media sources gave scant coverage to the reaction of organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, both of which raised compelling questions about the fairness of the dictator's trial. Reactions from abroad were mixed at best, with the Vatican calling the execution "tragic." Now, with the stark cell phone video irrefutably showing Hussein going to the gallows with dignity while enduring taunts from the unruly shiite mob who "predominated at the hanging" there is little doubt that Saddam's execution is not likely to quell sectarian tensions in Iraq, but to exacerbate them.
The Shiites who predominated at the hanging began a refrain at one point of "Moktada! Moktada! Moktada!"— the name of a volatile cleric whose private militia has spawned death squads that have made an indiscriminate industry of killing Sunnis — appending it to a Muslim imprecation for blessings on the Prophet Muhammad. "Moktada," Mr. Hussein replied, smiling contemptuously. "Is this how real men behave?"
http://www.nytimes.com/...
The New York Times reported today that it was American representatives who were most concerned about the appearance of fairness and adherence to Iraqi law, at one point refusing to hand Saddam over to Iraqi custody until the Iraqis could muster the required decree signed by President Jalal Talabani and his two vice presidents. As this was unlikely to happen--Talabani is a death penalty opponent--the Iraqis played what the NYTimes called their trump card: "they telephoned officials of the marjaiya, the supreme religious body in Iraqi Shiism, composed of ayatollahs in the holy city of Najaf. The ayatollahs approved." The end result? A sectarian spectacle. Saddam led to the gallows by thugs in leather jackets and ski masks. Taunting and jeering from his executioners despite pleas from the judge for decorum.
"Saddam appears like a hero to the Iraqi people now," Saleh Mutlak, leader of the second-largest Sunni group in parliament, said by telephone from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. "Even those who hated Saddam love Saddam now."
http://www.latimes.com/...
Where was our president during this latest foreign policy disaster? According to official reports he went to bed shortly before Saddam's execution with explicit instructions that he not be awakened.
The execution of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein following a deeply flawed trial for crimes against humanity marks a significant step away from respect for human rights and the rule of law in Iraq...The test of a government's commitment to human rights is measured by the way it treats its worst offenders.
--Human Rights Watch
Amnesty International said it had greatly welcomed the decision to hold Saddam Hussein to account for the crimes committed under his rule but this should have been done through a fair process. "His trial should have been a major contribution towards establishing justice and ensuring truth and accountability for the massive human rights violations perpetrated when he was in power, but his trial was a deeply flawed affair" said Malcolm Smart. "It will be seen by many as nothing more than 'victor's justice' and, sadly, will do nothing to stem the unrelenting tide of political killings."
http://news.amnesty.org/...
Postscript
On a much more personal note, I am appalled and saddened by the numerous expressions of approval for Hussein's execution from DailyKos members. As I've said elsewhere, compassion is like free speech--it's meaningless unless you offer it to beings you despise. I find myself thinking that the road ahead of all of us, the path to truly becoming a human being and creating a truly free and just society, is much longer than I had ever realized.
GWB