The disparity between Hussein during the heyday of his regime and the humbled old man at the gallows was startling. However, my thoughts turned to the Kurdish babies, gassed to death beside their parents, the innocent men beaten and tortured, and the young boys sent to the gallows - all courtesy of Saddam Hussein. When all is considered, I believe the punishment fit the crime.

B.S...I don't beleive it.Some one will have to show some hard facts that Hussein is dead.Forenic DNA would reveal the truth.
With the sophisticated technology we have today the cell phone video should be construed as a hoax.
The worlds people have a right to know if he was truly executed.He was a monster and monsters deserve to die for their crimes.

It is sad the only available feed is a cell phone camera. Though gruesome, the choice to see this is OURS to make. The censorship of what we are allowed to see by mainstream media, makes us nothing more than suppressed people similar to those in China and old Mother Russia. One important hacker ethic that is soon forgotten, INFORMATION WANTS TO BE FREE!

I simply can't believe this sympathy for the devil.

It does not compare to other Middle Eastern executions I have seen online in the past three years. I give the Iraqi's credit for not putting on a show and hanging him in a public square, dragging his body through the streets and displaying him on some public structure.
Their justice is not our justice, grow some stones.

(My apology to the stones)

The problem in Iraq, as with several other wars is we REFUSE to take a side. We want EVERYONE to like us, and everyone ends up hating us. Could you imagine if during WW2 we decided we would play "peacekeeper" between the Nazis and the Jews?!? No, we need to pick a side, support them, and stomp the others. Then at least ONE side won't hate us..

I find it very interesting that while Saddam was an overall terrible person that 1,000 years from now the official court documents will read that he was to died for the killings of 148 Shia Iraqis in 1982. Yet in the same history book it will read that Americans voted Bush as President for 2 terms at a time when more than 3,000 troops were killed and that under his administration thousands of Iraq's and other middle eastern people were killed. What a time we live in - let me get back to my cave drawing!

People should be treated the way they treat people. Live barbaricly, die barbaricly. The only fault I saw in the video is that it was not clear enough or quite enough to hear the bones cracking in his neck. A plus for filming it, d minus for cinematography.
P.S. Got to love Iraq's appeals process

I too felt the taunting was wrong. However, I can’t know what it felt like to be in the shoes of the witnesses who may have had friends and loved ones tortured, imprisoned, and in some cases murdered by Saddam. While by all accounts he seemed to have been a ruthless dictator, I will have to say that I was impressed by his composure as he faced certain death. I am not saying I admire him. But if I was impressed, think of radicals that have more reason to worship another so-called martyr. For that reason, I think the world was better off never seeing the leaked footage.

The US did not try Saddam nor did they hand down his sentence. You want to impose our 'AMERICAN' ways to a people that have no remorse for killing other human beings nor do they have a fear of death. If Saddam had not been hanged he would have stood before a firing squad. This is their way of life...quit discussing how inhumane his execution was. Our culture is EXTREMELY different from theirs and it would do all you well to remember this. Justice was served...let it be the end of it!

Seems to me Saddam was no stranger to other peoples execution--worrying about the finer points of whether he was taunted or teated politely seems a bit beside the point.

What is more important but not debated as much is whether he should have been executed at all. In this Christian nation of ours we don't always remember "vengeance is mine, says the Lord", and though we don't often admit it, capital punishment is basically revenge.

Will the world be a better place with out Saddam? Probably not. I didn't feel a ripple in fabric of time when he slipped out of it...same old world, same old problems, same old people doing the same old crap to each other. When one tyrant falls there are dozens ready to step up and replace him and it never ceases to suprise people when they come along. Its like "Oh gee...lookie here, we fight violence with violence, teach our kids this is ok to hate and kill...and wow, we have another violent and hateful dictator on our hands. Well, however did this happen?"

This same cycle will continue on unless the world takes a few moments to remove their collective heads from their collective rear ends.

Why is it that we never cease to find creative and imaginative ways to kill each other but never creative and imaginative ways to stop killing each other? We call ourselves civilized but keep inflicting pain and horror onto our fellow people. I just don't get it.

are their any true chritians in the u.s. that beleives this war in iraq IS just? i could have viewed the video but it didn't feel like the RIGHT thing to do. RIGHT BEING THE KEY TERM HERE.

I have to agree with Richard that this war we are fighting is not only useless and shows no signs of end or victory for either side, but is also a tremendous waste of human lives. It is simply an ongoing tragedy. What's worse is that those of you who think that this war is about revenge for 9/11 are completely wrong. I wish something HAD been done about that. We have hard facts it was Osama and the Taliban that did it, NOT Saddam. As soon as we got our greasy fingers on Saddam, though...end of story. Now, it's all his fault.

Yes, Saddam committed crimes and was responsible for all kinds of terror and destruction, but so are we! We are not helping anyone or anything by having started this war and to have executed Saddam and have it video taped, did we really expect it wouldn't get leaked?!?!? Come on now!!!

The fact is, yes Saddam was a terrible man and deserved punishment regardless of how innocent and docile he appeared pre-swing. However, it was very awful to have recorded it with the mindset that it would not get out. That is just plain ignorance. This war is ridiculous, the fact we have still done nothing about 9/11 is ridiculous, and this recent handling of Saddam was ridiculous and I blame the leadership.

Ann, I am so tired of hearing people say ”The price of freedom isn’t free” when they are talking about this war as if in 2003 Iraq was about to land a great invasion force on the New Jersey shore!
Do I Remember 9/11? Yes I do!
I also remember Osama Bin Laden is responsible for 9/11 and he is sitting safe in Pakistan, our “great ally” in the War on Terror.
I also remember that Bin Laden detested Saddam and probably rejoiced at his overthrow. I also remember reading the Presidents Commission Report on 9/11 and know that Saddam had no part in 9/11.
I also remember Donald Rusted smiling and shaking Saddams hand when all the while Saddam was killing, torturing and raping his people.
I also remember this country supplying weapons to Iraq in its war against Iran.
I also remember US advisors working hand in hand with the Iraqi military to select Iranian targets.
I have no idea why we have wasted 3002 lives, 22000 limbs and god knows how much money in Iraq. Clearly, it all would have been better spent in Afghanistan and Pakistan. At least it would have something to do with 9/11. Cuz we all know…Freedom isn’t free.

are their any true chritians in the u.s. that beleives this war in iraq just? i could have viewed the video but it didn't feel like the RIGHT thing to do. RIGHT BEING THE KEY TERM HERE.

he got what he desered , but its still horiffying to watch. whoever enjoys watching an execution has some bestiality in them

Now we will never know why Rummy gave Saddam a medal.

If you live by the sword, you die by the sword.
It applies to all involved. Foreign Dictators, American Presidents, Islamic leaders, Prime Ministers, it's just a matter of time. Look at history. Killing is killing, even that which is labeled "justified". It doesn't matter if you agree with my statement or not it is the truth. Two wrongs will never ever make a right.

I've long struggled with the moral issues surrounding civil capital punishment, whether or not it is for a human to end the life of another when life has already been lost, wondering if it really fixes anything, thinking of relatives that the victim and the criminal leave behind, the question of a humane method of execution, but when one speaks of wartime capital punishment, the rules seem to be different, perhaps because the welfare of whole countries or peoples are at stake When I heard that Saddam Hussein had been executed, in my mind, there was this sense of "it was inevitable and expected, certainly deserved." For harsh crimes, there must be harsh punishment, else would-be war criminals will expect little or no punishment and continue committing crimes. I don't think one can even begin to compare the suffering that Saddam experienced during his execution, taunting and all, with the suffering he purposefully inflicted on so many thousands of people, both in the gassing of the Kurdish people and in the executions and tortures he and his sons carried out in the name of their power. No one bathed him in acid, made him breathe poisonous gas or cut him a thousand times before he died. He was deluded and evil and he earned the sentence he got.

I think the execution most certainly should have been filmed, if only for the benefit of posterity and confirmation of his death to the Iraqi people and to prove to his enemies that he really was executed. I do think, however, that it should have been filmed officially by the Iraqi State, not by some clandestine cellphone. At least then they could've controlled who distributed it and it might not have been used so carelessly. I'd like to think that his execution was carried out because of the need for justice, not for vengeance, but I don't walk in the shoes of those whose friends and loved ones he tortured and murdered, so I can only speak for me. Maybe his victims may now rest in peace.

May our troops serve well and come home, safe. Bless you!

The execution of Sadaam Hussein was a wonderful thing and I can't imagine crying for this animal. He should be made to actively feel the suffering of all he harmed for the rest of time.

This video is another opportunity for massive public debate about the war.

I personally don't believe this to be a winnable proposition anymore. I'm not sure if it ever was, but now I have no optimism at all.

Back in October of 2006, U.S. led forces capurted an aide to radical cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr. This should have been something good. Unfortunately Al-Sadr demanded his release and we handed him over to the Iraqi govt. who released him.

Here's the sordid tale.

http://bearcreekledger.com/2006/10/19/release-of-al-sadr-senior-aide/

This story has received almost no coverage here. Read it and you see why. This is only a small example but, I think it perfectly exemplifies the political realties of that situation and the futile nature of our continued efforts.

Let's face it, the fact that the Iraqi Prime Minister is opposed to launching sweeps of neighborhoods controlled by Al-Sadr should tell us all we need to know about the futility of the situation facing our brave men and women.

Iraq is now a civil war and our Army is not designed to try and police a civil war. Call it what you want, but the 100 or so Iraqi's that the media reports are dying daily, are not being killed by Al Qaeda or any other terrorist group. Sunni's are killing Shiites and Shiites are killing Sunni's...it's that simple. Meanwhile the average Iraqi, the ones who haven't been able to flee the scene, live in daily fear of unspeakable horrors, just because of who they are.

This is inhuman and must end.

The entire Iraq situation has been a farce from the beginning! The US has been supporting Saddam since the 60s, hoping to foster an American-friendly Iraqi government, along with access to cheap oil. They supported Iraq during their war with Iran, and also led them to believe that the Kuwaiti invasion was permissible. Then they turned on him. Since the mid 90s, the neocons in DC have been planning to oust him. Stupid George Bush got conned by Rummy and Cheney to invade, and as is clear now, they had no post-war plan. What remains today is a fierce civil war, with a Shia majority, and a hotbed of sectarian violence for the entire region, threatening a strong Shiite movement across the entire Middle East.

I wish Americans would realize that: 1) Iraq had NOTHING to do with 9/11, and invading Iraq does nothing to make Americans safer. Its just killing more US soldiers, more Iraqi civilians, and wasting a boatload of taxpayer dollars. Also, 2) Americans dont have a birthright privilege to cheap oil, and its high time that the wealthiest and most advanced nation in the world find a way to wean themselves off SUVs and other gas guzzling toys to find alternate fuels and energy sources. The US has always been interested in the Middle East for oil, and nothing else. When will the government just cut its losses there and simply have nothing to do with these nations???

Hmmm. It's ironic that the US government would allow the execution of Saddam. Saddam was a friend of the USA at one time (Iran-Iraq war). How ironic. Didn't Rumsfeld at one time shake the hand of Saddam? You know. Buddy, buddy (wink, wink). But now Saddam is treated like a piece of toliet paper, used once and then discarded. Don't get me wrong. Saddam got what he deserved but instead of spending half a trillion dollars, 3000+ military dead and 21,000 service members wounded. I believe a single bullet would have been cheaper. One bullet equals 20 cents.

What happened with the search for Osama Bin Laden? Why don't we hear his name in the news anymore?

I felt odd when I heard about it. I refuse to watch it, because, why? I don't need another "Faces of Death" movie that makes me sick. My feeling is that no matter who watches it, his victims' families will not get closure. But, I tend to agree that we're not going to change the Middle East in a day. It's a far greater battle than Viet Nam ever was. This is not about communism. This is an age old battle. Without waking up into the 2000s, the youth are being educated to the repeated life of their fathers. A vicious cycle that our forces are not going to solve.

After reading the comments, I was left thinking how ill-informed so many Americans are about the broader world. Many comments sounded like people debating execution of some American bad guy somewhere in Texas; like they think people elsewhere see things like Americans do. Well, Dorthy, Iraq ain't Kansas and the simple truth is that Saddam's execution, and how it was done, is going to lead to more hate and death, including of American soldiers. Ya see, Dorthy, America is just a small part of the world and the percentage of people in it who think like you is even smaller. Most world citzens think the debate about whether Saddam deserved what he got or not, is just pitifull. The real issue here, is how the execution impacts thinking of "NON" Americans. Sadly, like it or not or believe it or not, America just got another black eye just when she least needed it.