h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Just read on the BBc homepage that Saddam's getting sentenced to death by hanging along with a couple of others for crimes against humanity.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6117910.stm

OK, not that I'm saying he was the nicest man on the planet (from what I've heard, he did some not-very-nice things) but I can't say that the death penalty's terribly nice either. Always thought that living with the concequences of your actions and maybe doing something to make amends would've been more appropriate. Like what about sending him to work in a soup kitchen or something?

Wouldn't that be dangerous?

Anyway, the death penalty exists in many other countries. If you're going to protest against it, I'd advise you to pick another case for your focus.

Didn't some chappie in the French govt say recently something along the lines of "All civilised countries have abolished the death penalty"?

TRiG.

Not that French bloke definately said something dangerous.

I suppose I just can't see how killing someone for killing others makes you any better than them. I can see that sending him into Kuwait or something to do community service wold probably be a bad idea, but there must be some other option.

actually things like stocks would be good in this instance too as appearance is very important in the arab world. Degredation and humiliation are very bad things to happen to you...plus, of course, if/when they do kill him it's gonna get a whole lot worse there with the violence.

Yeah. There's bound to be some sort of retaliatin from someone for it.

If they don't hang him, one of two things will hapen: someone will break him out, or someone will break in to kill him. Probably the CIA.

If Saddam knew what was good for him, he would have stuck to attacking Iran. Then he'd still be a hero of the fight against terror right now instead of a tyrannical dictator who must be executed.

'Dear People of Iraq

We, the United States of America*, proudly present to you freedom from oppression and tyranny. We grant you the ability to forge a modern society with the support of the wealthiest nations on the planet, boosting your considerable resources.

We hope you'll also take our sense of morality and justice, including the great pride butchering those who we imprison without fair trial'

*And our allies


Lets face it, Saddam was never going to get a fair trial. Fair enough he wasn't exactly Mr Friendly, but Churchill wanted to gas the Kurds, and most of the equipment Saddam had came from America who also supplied Iran (which to me suggests they've been trying to destabalise the region for decades - except its only worked in Gaza where theres no real resources).

He's got his appeal though, so maybe he'll get life. If they kill him, the countrys going to end up split into smaller chunks as people take there share. As it stands its getting a bit silly and the Yanks wont want to stay there much longer without a solution...

I think the death penalty is too much of an easy option for him. Like many are saying, It'll only make him a martyr in th eyes of the Sunni's and destabilise Iraq even more. That's the last thing the country needs. He should be put in jail for the rest of his life.

"I suppose I just can't see how killing someone for killing others makes you any better than them."

I will show you how: The death penalty is all about protecting innocent people. It ensures that the convict will *NEVER* be able to hurt anyone else ever ever again. Ever.

But it protects innocent people on an even deeper level than that, because it makes other evil-doers *afraid* of justice - it gives them an incentive (survival) to stop what they're doing. It gives them a disincentive (the death penalty) to do evil. In short, it makes the bad guys afraid of the police.

If Saddam were allowed to sit there in jail for the rest of his days, that would not be a punishment - that would be giving him a political platform to speak from. He'd continue to get his message out to the Saddam-loyalists.

If I were the Iraqis, I'd have a tape of Saddam's execution sent to Kim-Jong Ill with "You're Next" written on it.
Nerd42

I so agree with you about the death penalty, NPY...

As for saddam Hussein, there is so much more to the story than the media would have you know!

These links were sent me by my (right-wing) sister, who finally seems to be growing some scepticism about Bush and Co,
http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=1363

http://english.pravda.ru/world/20/91/366/12494_saddam.html

(Granted the truthseeker one is a bit nuts - I saw the word 'Illuminati' there... but that doesn't mean it's wholly wrong!)

And another for good measure...
http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_id=12119

VL

>>But it protects innocent people on an even deeper level than that, because it makes other evil-doers *afraid* of justice - it gives them an incentive (survival) to stop what they're doing. It gives them a disincentive (the death penalty) to do evil. In short, it makes the bad guys afraid of the police.


Yup, that's why there are so few murders in the US and why death row has virtually noone on it.

The death penalty has nothing to do with justice and everything to do with revenge. That is why every civilised country in the world has abolished it.

Nerd42, why not be consistent about it then? Shall we also send the tape to all those British and American leaders who gave him the weapons to kill all the innocent people?

"If I were the Iraqis, I'd have a tape of Saddam's execution sent to Kim-Jong Ill with "You're Next" written on it."

And if that happened, it'd be straight on the news and world war 3 would be inching closer.

The British army marched across most of the worldin the last two centuries and crushed it under a big shiny boot - but back then the worst we encountered was a few rifles. Northern Ireland was the turning point for us really, partly because (especially in the later years), access to good fighting equipment was there. The British dont go to war now boots first expecting to paste the enemy,.

The Americans had vietnam and they should have learned from the experience, but they simply havent.

absolutely.

It's probably a no-win thing, isn't it? They kill him, he's a martyr; they don't kill him, someone else will or they'll bust him out. What about sending him to Alcatraz or....well the security needed is quite a scary thought.

There's an interesting write-up at F5584423?thread=3652905.

TRiG.

Yeah. That's a very interesting way of writing about it. Very good point that he just looked like "an oldish man in a suit". Makes him sound more ordinary and human. I suppose we can get into what the media and propoganda says and think of him as this big powerful dictator and forget that he's human too.

fair point.

"Yup, that's why there are so few murders in the US and why death row has virtually noone on it."
Oh please. The death penalty in the United States isn't effective enough to do the job it was intended for. Criminals may know that if they get caught, they might end up in The Chair, but they also know that they'll have 20-30 years of free meals while a bunch of lawyers try to help them worm their way out of it first by sleezy legal manouvers, with the added possiblity of a book deal and being on TV. They know that by the time they get it, they'll probably be so old that it won't really matter by that time.

"The death penalty has nothing to do with justice and everything to do with revenge. That is why every civilised country in the world has abolished it."
Then Americans have never been civilised. And it's a good thing.
Nerd42