Every human being deserves dignity in death. And that includes the likes of Pol ,Pot, Stalin, Mao and Saddam. I baulk at putting him in this list, but I think Saddam Hussein has become a favorite hate figure.

Where are those statements regarding the people Saddam killed?  It's really telling that the people who are complaining about Saddams execution never said a word while Saddam was putting people in mass graves.  Tells you something doesn't it?

Where are those statements regarding the people Saddam killed? It's really telling that the people who are complaining about Saddams execution never said a word while Saddam was putting people in mass graves. Tells you something doesn't it?

I'm pretty sure Bahu has, actually. So have many other high- and low-profile opponents to the execution of Saddam, such as the Pope and the Prime Minister of New Zealand.

You come out with the strangest things some times, Island Dog.

I suppose it is a matter of opinion, but death is death, and whether you are treated like a hero in your last moments or spit upon results in the same end. You're dead. Given the death in question was considered a punishment for deeds done, I see no reason why "dignity" should even be a factor.

To be utterly cynical for a moment it's more politically useful to give enemies of the state a dignified sending off, particularly in times of high rebel activity. It helps to sway moderates away from joining the rebels. After all, if the moderates think both sides are as immoral as the other why not join the side that offers them more? The last thing a government needs is a population who doesn't care about it.

Given the death in question was considered a punishment for deeds done, I see no reason why "dignity" should even be a factor.

Because quite simply Baker - one would hope your education has made you a civilized and dignified person who would bestow dignity upon someone at your mercy and in that situation and that you would not fall into the ditch they have been living in - joining them in their muck.

By not affording him dignity - you are no better than he.

Because quite simply Baker - one would hope your education has made you a civilized and dignified person who would bestow dignity upon someone at your mercy and in that situation and that you would not fall into the ditch they have been living in - joining them in their muck

Jennifer1, I think BakerStreet is indeed a highly educated and a well informed person and I dare say that the remark quoted is unfair to him because he comes from the prespective that since Saddam did those horrible things, he deserved what he got. I do not think he, Baker, justifies the vindictive manner in which the actual execution was carried out.

"Because quite simply Baker - one would hope your education has made you a civilized and dignified person who would bestow dignity upon someone at your mercy and in that situation and that you would not fall into the ditch they have been living in - joining them in their muck. By not affording him dignity - you are no better than he."

What you're describing has nothing to do with intelligence or education. It has nothing to do with rational thought. It's just as emotional, subjective, idealistic as what you are describing as a "ditch".

You've convinced yourself what "civilized" means. Based on... what? How has your education lead you to believe that taunting someone before you snap their neck is less civilized than snapping their neck sans insult? What particular philosopher, sociologist, theory, quantitative data, etc., from your educational background are you basing that on?

You are the uncivilized one. You just equated gassing Kurds, slaughtering Shia, etc., with sentencing someone guilty of such to a death you find "undignified". I find THAT to be both ignorant and uncivilized. Part of education and sophistication is being able to discern subtle differences, and the difference between what Saddam did, and what was done to him is HARDLY SUBTLE.

Pop ideals that don't work in the real world aren't "education" or "civilization". If you want to apply some sort of stupid PETA values on the killing evil men, feel free, but if you are going to call it "educated" you'd better give "educated" reasons. Just because 'they' say so, or because you heard it from Deepak Chopra isn't really impressive to me.

"I do not think he, Baker, justifies the vindictive manner in which the actual execution was carried out."

Thanks, Bahu, and no if I were in charge it wouldn't have gone that way at all. In the end, though, Iraq is a people who were put through a 30 year horror. There is no family in Iraq that didn't live in fear of someone disappearing, someone being arrested, tortured, etc. Even his ALLIES were in danger of making a misstep and ending up with a "red card".

I don't think someone like Jennifer1 can sit in her comfy chair and imagine what it would have been like to live under that for the last 30 years. When she lauds her own education and civilization, she has to admit she's cultivated it in very, very different circumstances. Of course she doesn't have the same, gut-level hatred of Hussein as the people he abused; people who know and love people he killed.

I've seen how American and English people have acted after being threatened by terrorism over the last few years, and it is often quite uncivilized. If you tossed Osama onto the field at the superbowl and let the crowd have him, how many pieces do you think you'd have left at the end? Do you think, maybe, if we had Osama on the gallows there wouldn't be a few hecklers? Now multiply the harm exponentially and you'll realize how Iraqis felt about Saddam.

So, no, I don't think we can judge people who finally have the culprit for their 30 year horror show on the gallows.