Swinging Saddam – Live Thread

News that Saddam may be swinging by a rope within a few hours:

Saddam Hussein has been transferred from U.S. custody, his lawyers said, and an Iraqi judge authorized to attend the former dictator’s hanging said he would be executed no later than Saturday.

The physical hand-over of Saddam to Iraqi authorities was believed to be one of the last steps before he was to be hanged, although the lawyers’ statement did not specifically say Saddam was in Iraqi hands.

"A few minutes ago we received correspondence from the Americans saying that President Saddam Hussein is no longer under the control of U.S. forces," according to the statement faxed to The Associated Press.

"Saddam will be executed today or tomorrow," said Munir Haddad, a judge on the appeals court that upheld Saddam’s death sentence. "All the measures have been done."

Haddad is authorized to attend the execution on behalf of the judiciary.

"I am ready to attend and there is no reason for delays," Haddad said.

As I write this it’s about 10:00am on the West Coast which is about 9:00pm in Baghdad.  Saturday is in a few hours.  Rumors are that he will be hung late morning in Iraq which would put it within 12-15 hours from now.  Hopefully we will all hear news that this evil man is dead very very soon. 

Meanwhile the job of the hangman is a very coveted position it seems:

One of the most coveted jobs in Iraq does not yet exist: the executioner for Saddam Hussein. The death sentence against Saddam is still under review by an appeals court, but hundreds of people have already started lobbying the prime minister’s office for the position.

They have sent messages through Cabinet officials and their assistants, and by way of government guards and clerical workers. One candidate, an Iraqi Shiite living in London whose brother was killed by Saddam, telephoned an aide to the prime minister to say he was prepared to drop everything and fly to Baghdad to execute the former ruler. It would be an honor, he said, according to the aide.

"One of the hardest tasks will be to determine who gets to be the hangman because so many people want revenge for the loss of their loved ones," said Basam Ridha, an adviser to Prime Minister Nouri Kamal al-Maliki.

And we all know who will be watching the hanging with sadness:

Jules Crittenden and I would love for those who thrilled that a murderous thug is dead to join us in a toast of your favorite shot drink when the news come out.  I am choosing Patron tequila.

Why should we be happy?  Because he was responsible for these:  (graphic photo’s below)

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So tip a shot glass with Jules and I in honor of those massacred by Saddam when he finally meets justice.

UPDATE 1025hrs PST

This report is stating that he will hang at dawn in Iraq:

One of defense counsels of Saddam Hussein affirmed Friday with AFP from Amman that, according to information’s of which it laid out, the deposed president would be carried out "Saturday at dawn".

"According to information’s in our Saddam Hussein possession would be carried out Saturday at dawn", indicated this lawyer under cover of anonymity.

It stressed that the lawyers had received "information of Iraq" which made "state of preparations for the execution tomorrow (Saturday) at dawn".

"the bracket is ready, according to our sources, it was assembled", it added.

While confusion seems to reign in the MSM.  First they say he has been transferred and now:

U.S. Official Says Saddam Still in American Custody

I think this may be all a case of semantics.  Legal custody may have been transferred to the Iraqi’s via documents but not physical.

Oh btw….sunrise in Baghdad is 7:05am Iraqi time.  9 and a half hours from now.

UPDATE 1050hrs PST

Iraq The Model has some local news updates:

-Tariq Harb, Iraq’s most famous judicial expert who’s been following and commenting on the trial since the beginning said he expected the execution to take place in the next few hours.

-The Sadrist said they would return to the cabinet and parliament after Saddam is executed.

-Bahaa’ al-Aaraji, a Sadrist and member of the parliament’s legal commission told al-Iraqiya TV that two execution sites have been prepared; one in the IZ and one in another location he wouldn’t disclose.

-Al-Aaraji told al-Iraqiya TV that the government is asking clerics whether it’s allowed to carry out executions during religious holidays. He added that he expects Saddam to be executed no later than noon tomorrow.

While Carol Platt Liebau notices how concerned the Europeans are over Saddam, when they were not too concerned about the rape rooms:

Having been apparently untroubled by Saddam’s penchant for throwing women into rape rooms and feeding people into paper shredders, the "European community" is now deeply concerned that Saddam Hussein will be executed after having enjoyed more due process than he ever dreamed of providing for his victims.

And still more conflicting news: (via FR)

"We are absolutely certain
Saddam Hussein is still in
American custody."

UPDATE 1140hrs PST

And still more confusion:

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Saddam Hussein could be hanged within hours, a senior Iraqi source told Reuters on Friday after Saddam’s lawyer said U.S. forces had handed over the former president to Iraqi authorities for execution.

U.S. officials, however, insisted that the 69-year-old ousted dictator was still in American hands.

 

And a leading politician said Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was waiting for a religious ruling on whether Saturday’s start of the Eid al-Adha holiday, coinciding with the haj pilgrimage to Mecca, meant the execution should be postponed for a week.

Add this to the fact that I am hearing rumors that he will swing by 1300hrs PST.  If so then no shot for me, heading to work….but will definately toast to his death when I get home.

UPDATE 1815hrs PST

Being at work today I didn’t miss alot it seems.  He is still kicking but appears to be heading to the gallows at any moment:

Saddam Hussein’s date with death appears to be just hours away. The former president of Iraq will be hanged "within a matter of hours," a Bush administration official told FOX News on Friday.

"The final meetings have taken places," the official said, adding in Iraqis have requested Sddam be turned over to them. "The process is now in the final stage."

Earlier, the Associated Press reported via a top Iraqi official that Saddam would be hanged before 10 p.m. ET Friday night (6 a.m. Saturday in Baghdad).

The official witnesses to the impending execution gathered Friday in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone in final preparation for his hanging, and state television broadcast footage of his regime’s atrocities.

Patron here I come!

And for your reading pleasure take a look at what the idiots on the left side of the aisle think:

Riddler  (411 posts) Fri Dec-29-06 09:00 PM
Response to Original message
11. The difference between Saddam and Bush is simple….
   
one is a murdering, lying, corrupt, self-serving, war criminal, piece of shit dictator with absolutely no compassion or respect for human life and human values and the rule of law. The other is scheduled to be hanged tonight.

Should we feel sympathy for the few brain cells left in their heads?

How about this one:

westy1080  (13 posts) Fri Dec-29-06 08:55 PM
Original message
Now tell me this isn’t all planned ahead of time
   
First there were the deaths of James Brown and Gerald Ford. Now there is Saddam’s execution. This had to be planned ahead of time to take away from the first 100 hours of the new Democratic Congress with the first female Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.

UPDATE 1910hrs PST

CNN: Execution unconfirmed

Iraqi TV saying execution took place 10 minutes ago.

UPDATE 1915hrs PST

And now two other Iraqi stations are reporting he is dead.  Think it’s time to down a shot of Patron.

Pat Dollard is reporting that the execution may have happened an hour ago:

I HAVE CONFIRMATION FROM A CONFIDENTIAL MILITARY SOURCE WHO WAS PART OF THE PROCESS THAT SADDAM HUSSEIN WAS EXECUTED JUST ABOUT AN HOUR AGO.
HE WENT OUT A SWINGER.

UPDATE 2020hrs PST

Reports are coming out that he cried like a coward as he was led to the noose.  The man who sent hundreds of thousands to their deaths in a horrible manner was crying and scared.  What a POS!

CNN reporting Arab media says there was dancing around Saddam’s body after he was executed.

CNN and FNC reporting there was dancing around the body of Saddam after he hung.

They just reported on CNN that Saddam’s body will be laying in state at CNN Headquarters.  All you KOSdummies better get your tickets, go pay your respects.

UPDATE 2115hrs PST

UPDATE 12/30/06 0930hrs PST

So overnight the video came out of his hanging, or at least the noose going around his neck:

And no truer words have been spoken then these by Dean Barnett:

I’VE NEVER OFFERED THE FOLLOWING SPECULATION in print, primarily because I didn’t want to jinx things. But I think the main reason we haven’t had a repeat of 9/11 or something worse in over five years is because George W. Bush scares the s**t out of his enemies. When domestic liberal whine, “He scaaaares me,” they really mean it. The world’s bad people feel the same way. The American reprisals to a terror attack that took place under George W. Bush’s watch would likely be swift, brutal and disproportionate.

Our enemies may be crazy, but they’re not stupid. I bet the next 9/11, which will probably be magnitudes worse than the previous 9/11, will wait until George W. Bush is gone from office. Our enemies see the rest of our leadership class as anxious to curry favor with those who threaten our destruction. And while the road-to-Damascus Senators are the worst offenders, practically our entire “elite” structure is suspect. The Baker Group was bi-partisan. The media? Don’t even get me started. If our enemies were to conclude that a major attack on U.S. soil would cause many of our political factions to sue for peace, they would be wrong. But they wouldn’t be unreasonable.

Bush’s successor will be tested. That’s almost a certainty. And while Bush’s communications skills and policies have too often been wanting, the country may someday pine once again for a President who was feared.

We were so very lucky that Bush was in office when we needed a leader who would not take shit anymore.  No more negotiations, no more talking, just action.  As Dean says, they ALL fear him.  They understand that he would not hesitate to strike anyone who strikes us.

Guess whats going to happen with President Hillary Clinton?  You guessed it.  It’s going to be bad.  No one fears her, they all know she will talk, negotiate and say "pretty please with sugar on top" just as her husband did.

And no, I am not saying Saddam was responsible for 9/11.  While the connections between his regime and Al-Qaeda did exist I do not believe he helped in the planning and execution of 9/11.  But he did go to war with us, he did lose, he did sign a cease fire, he did refuse to obey that cease fire for 12 years all the while thumbing his nose to the world.  And then he did hang because of George W. Bush. 

UPDATE 1030hrs PST

Iraq The Model’s latest post:

On this day as we celebrate justice we shall not forget to pray for blessings for the souls of the dictator’s victims and we shall not forget to thank our brothers in America and the rest of the coalition nations who helped us and are still helping us in our struggle to build the new free and democratic Iraq.

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