Former Iraqi president executed
Saddam Hussein was hanged at the gallows; mourners attend burial
Saddam Hussein, the former dictator of Iraq, was hanged at the gallows by Iraqi executioners on the 30th of December, at approximately 2200 hrs Eastern time. At the time of the execution, Hussein remained calm, refusing a hood to cover his eyes during the actual execution. He was charged with 148 Shiite deaths in 1982.
Many Iraqis turned out for the hanging, and cheered once it was over, marking a turning point in the Iraqi conflict. When MSNBC conducted an interview with the Prime Minister of Iraq, they stated they could hear the cheering of the crowds from outside.
Up until the end, Hussein continued to claim that he was not a tyrant, but rather Iraq's savior. According to witness accounts, he stated that all of Iraq's (or more accurately, his) enemies would go to hell, and all of his allies would end up in heaven. He encouraged the Iraqis to fight Americans and Persians specifically.
National Security Adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie told The New York Times that a guard shouted at Saddam at the gallows saying, “You have destroyed us. You have killed us. You have made us live in destitution.”
Hussein's response was as follows: "I have saved you from destitution and misery and destroyed your enemies, the Persian and Americans." The guard then reportedly cursed at Hussein, who echoed the curse back at the guard. [Censored for PG-13 purposes.]
Hussein's burial took place in his birth town of Ouja. The overall mood of the burial was drastically different than that of the execution as mourners came to pay final respects to the fallen figure. Some claimed that Saddam's end was a crime, others said it was God's will that he die this way, though "his march and the course which he followed will not end," said Mohammed Natiq, a twenty-four year old college student.
Reports state that the dictator's body suffered no posthumous mistreatment, and was even cared for properly by the standards of his faith. MSNBC.com reported the following:
“We received the body of Saddam Hussein without any complications. There was cooperation by the prime minister and his office’s director,” the clan chief, Sheik al-Nidaa, told state-run Al-Iraqiya television. “We opened the coffin of Saddam. He was cleaned and wrapped according to Islamic teachings. We didn’t see any unnatural signs on his body.”
While there was some rebellion, threats of revenge, and other insurgent activity that day, the number of deaths that day did not rise above average, and there were no specific retalliation efforts to report as of yet.
Hussein's final moments were spent smiling at his taunters at the gallows, accusing them of not showing "manhood." He then recited a Muslim prayer called the "Shahada," a prayer stating that there is only one God, and Muhammed was his messenger. Saddam was executed halfway through his first repeat, his last word, according to MSNBC, being "Muhammed."
Problems in the streets of Iraq are expected to continue, if not worsen by the execution at this point. Iraq soldiers as well as US military are on high alert at this point, watching for any trouble.
Photo by ReutersPresident Bush searches for a new plan
In a recent statement, Bush states that the US is not winning the Iraq war
In a statement made to the press, President Bush stated that we are neither winning nor losing the war in Iraq, and that a new tactic is needed if there is to be success overseas. He has said that he plans to send in more Army and Marine Corps troops to the middle east in one short surge in hopes to end the war and return everyone home.
After the democrats swept the elections, Bush stated that he does not believe this to be a sign that the war should be quit, but rather, it should be won as quickly as possible. According to the
Washington Post some administration officials other than the president stated that "the administration is preparing plans to bolster the nation's permanent active-duty military with as many as 70,000 additional troops." With all these changes will come more costs. The administration is in the process of requesting supplemental funds to help cover the increased cost of the war.
Army Chief of Staff General Shoomaker stated that with the military stretched as thinly as it is, it "will break" under the pressure, as the numbers may not be able to meet the demands of national security as well as the crises overseas. On CBS' "Face of the Nation," former Secretary of State Colin Powell stated, "the active Army is about to be broken."
President Bush is not the first to feel that the number of troops overseas should be increased; the Democratic Party has been saying that this should happen for several years now, including John Kerry during his attempt to take the Executive Branch in 2004. Until very recently, the Bush Administration was strongly against this tactic, now saying, "I'm inclined to believe that we do need to increase our troops -- the Army, the Marines," he said. "And I talked about this to [Defense] Secretary [Robert M.] Gates, and he is going to spend some time talking to the folks in the building, come back with a recommendation to me about how to proceed forward on this idea."
The future of the war is uncertain at this point, and nothing is for sure. Depending on the decision of the government, the war could be drastically shortened or prolonged.
