More On Saddam.

Hey folks,

Yes, so we can now see Saddam about to be hung. The AP Video shows the preparation for this to take place. Now I posed the question last night of how can we really be sure. I have been getting some response to that and so far most of you are saying we need DNA. I agree. But until that happens, if it ever does, I say we accept that this WAS Saddam hung.

Did you notice the reporting on this? Unless you were in a "spider hole," you couldn’t miss it today. The NY Post said,

"The Butcher of Baghdad is no more.

Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein - clutching a Koran as he was led to the gallows - was hanged today in the city he ruled with an iron fist for decades at 6 a.m. Baghdad time, officials said.

His death was greeted with elation by those present at the execution, which included dancing over Hussein's body, witnesses said."

The headline? "Saddam Is The King Of Swing" Got to love it. So There was dancing in the streets, and at the hanging itself. But as this was taking place, the world leaders were split on the execution.

"In Washington, President Bush said Saddam was executed "after receiving a fair trial — the kind of justice he denied the victims of his brutal regime."

"Bringing Saddam Hussein to justice will not end the violence in Iraq, but it is an important milestone on Iraq's course to becoming a democracy that can govern, sustain and defend itself, and be an ally in the war on terror," Bush said in a statement."

Then you have others that were not as happy. Some fear that this will increase the violence in Iraq. After telling an interesting story of Saddam turning into a little whinny, whimpering, little coward,

"This nation of 27 million people spent much of the day crowding around television sets to watch mesmerizing replays of a videotape that showed the 69-year-old Mr. Hussein being led to the gallows at dawn by five masked executioners, and having a noose fashioned from a thick rope of yellow hemp lowered around his neck. In the final moments shown on the videotape, he seemed almost unnaturally calm and cooperative.

The message seemed to be that he had lived his final moments with unflinching dignity and courage, reinforcing the legend of himself as the Arab world’s strongman that he cultivated while in power. But the videotape, released by the government, offered only a partial sense of how Mr. Hussein went to his death, according to accounts given later by some of the 25 people who attended the execution, including senior officials of the new Shiite-led government.

In their telling, the ousted ruler, a Sunni, spent much of his last half-hour, after arriving at the execution block at the Khadimiyah prison in northern Baghdad, in querulous and at times irascible exchanges with the Shiite guards and executioners assigned to hang him and with some of the Shiite witnesses."

then the NY "Crimes" said,

"Within hours of the execution, at least 75 people were killed in nine bombing attacks of the kind that Sunni insurgents commonly carry out against Shiites. In the mainly Shiite districts of Hurriyah and Sayidah in Baghdad, separate sequences in which car bombs detonated in close succession caused at least 39 deaths. Two other car bombings hit Baghdad before nightfall, one outside a children’s hospital in the Iskan neighborhood, and another that killed two people outside a mosque in the mainly Sunni district of Adhamiya, the Interior Ministry said.

Another vehicle bomb detonated in a popular fish market in the Shiite holy town of Kufa, 100 miles south of Baghdad, killing 34 people and wounding 38 others, the ministry said. In the Kufa attack, an angry mob set on the suspected bomber and beat him to death, the police said. Five more victims died in a suicide bombing in the northern city of Tal Afar, another center of violence between Sunnis and Shiites."

Clearly they want us to read into this that the execution caused this "increase in violence." But this is NOT due to the execution. But a continuing conflict between the Sunnis and Shiites. The AP put it this way,

"There was no sign of a feared Sunni uprising in retaliation for the execution, and the bloodshed from civil warfare was not far off the daily average — 92 from bombings and death squads."

So basically, so far, it seems that more people are happy that Saddam is gone than there are upset about it.

Now normally at the death of someone in the news, I would say "God Speed." But in Saddam’s case, I say, "Good Riddens." Like it or not, believe it or not, the world is a better place without you.



Peter

Sources;

NYP- "Saddam Is The King Of Swing"
AP Video
USA Today- "World leaders welcome, condemn Saddam's execution"
NYT- "Hussein Video Grips Iraq; Attacks Go On"
AP- "Saddam exchanged taunts with witnesses"

How Will We Know Saddam IS Dead?

Hey folks,

I cannot take credit for raising this question. It was a caller of a local radio show here in south Florida. The caller said, how can we know for sure that it really IS Saddam who was hung. He had imposters running all over the place when we were trying to get him.

I thought to myself. He has a VERY valid point. I remembered that even some major news outlets did stories on the imposters. I searched and found this one from CBS back on March 20, 2003. Here it is in it’s entirely

"(CBS) Twice since the shooting started the world has been shown videotape from Baghdad of a man who looks, acts, and talks like Saddam Hussein. But, as CBS News Correspondent Jim Stewart reports there's an ongoing debate within the Bush administration over whether this is actually the man himself or just a darn good imposter.

Several hours after the first cruise missiles struck Baghdad late Wednesday, Iraqi television showed this tape of Hussein allegedly answering the challenge. He even made reference to the date to prove this wasn't an old videotape.

But is it really Saddam? Veteran Hussein watchers were thrown by the thick glasses the heaviness in the face, and the uncharacteristically narrow shoulders.

"My initial reaction was, 'Gee. That does not look like him,'" said Jerrald Post, who created the CIA's psychological profile unit and has studied Hussein intensely.

"Either that was a really quite drawn and stressed out, puffy-faced from not getting enough sleep Saddam, or it represented a double," he said.

Iraqi defectors have long insisted that Hussein uses doubles to throw off his enemies and maintain an air of secrecy. The look-alikes reportedly had plastic surgery and were trained in the dictator's mannerisms, including the way he walks, and even down to his facial tics.

Over the years the CIA has kept careful watch as well, from his first Gulf War days of usually wearing a uniform to the more presidential Hussein usually seen in business suits and matching ties.

A German forensic pathologist studied hundreds of Hussein photos and videotapes, concentrating on his mustache and eyebrow measurements.

Then he used computer software to locate specific points such as the tip of his nose and the cheekbone creating a face print which was compared to the Hussein photographs.

His conclusion: that there are three Hussein impersonators, all with small, distinct differences.

Interestingly, the German pathologist reportedly has carefully examined these latest tapes from Baghdad and concluded that this is the real Hussein. The truth, obviously, is hiding somewhere in Baghdad."

So, as I said to Sam, with the possibility of an imposter taking his place, even eye witness accounts could be called into question. Some of these imposters even had surgery to look more like him. The truth is we really have no way of knowing if Saddam is REALLY the one hung, barring DNA evidence. That only depends on the Iraqis cooperation.

Why would they do this? Believe it or not, there really is a real possibility that there are some that will risk ANYTHING to save his life. Some of these diehards truly believe in Saddam. They worship him. I would not doubt in the LEAST, the possibility of a switch. I do rest assure that even if he was to live, he will not return like Jesus, from the dead, to reign in Iraq. If this was to happen, I have NO doubt that we will do what we SHOULD have done in the beginning. Go there and LEVEL the place. Period. Then rebuild and set up a government. If we had done that in the beginning, we would be home by now.

Either way, it seems that we have, according to the Iraqis, turned over Saddam, and that the hanging will be taking place tomorrow, or today, time difference, in Iraq time. Should be interesting to see what happens. You KNOW that there will be some kind of video, either by the MMD or U Tube or something soon.
Peter

Source;
CBS News-"Saddam Or Imposter?"