An adviser to Iraq's prime minister said "an official who supervised the execution" is believed to have recorded Saddam Hussein's execution on a cell phone camera and has been arrested. Two guards who were recorded on the unofficial video taunting Mr. Hussein were also arrested.
What is noteworthy is that the one person who brings the truth to the world, gets punished. Here is his video. Iraqi state television aired an official video of the hanging, which had no audio. Here is that one. What a difference.
In the end, do we want a world, muzzled and censored, or free access to what really happened? I know what I want. But of course, the people in power never want the truth to get out.
The unauthorized video embarrassed the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, so now they are retaliating, trying to cover up their own ineptitude. Because botching the execution of this century, is pretty inept.
Britain's Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott yesterday described the manner of Saddam's hanging as "deplorable" and the leaking of the cell phone footage as "totally unacceptable". And that is also true. After all, the leaking demonstrates the complete lack of control by the government. At the same time that also gave us the truth.
And the truth is that the whole hanging was botched. And now the people responsible for the mess are arresting the people who exposed the mess.
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Remember that reporter that took a panoramic picture of all those flag-draped coffins inside a military plane, ready to be flown back from Iraq to the Dover Air Base? What happened to her? She was criticized, condemned and censored because she dared to show us one of the many ugly but real sides of the war. If the media keep cooperating with this disastrous administration in limiting our exposure to "sanitized" versions of the horrors of this war, nobody is ever going to react, or question.
And by the way, this was the BEST thing that could have happened to Saddam. If they had let him live, he would have died in total oblivion. Instead, he was instantly transformed into a martyr. And what will remain in our memories for years to come thanks to that video will not be all the crimes committed during his brutal regime but the dignity and braveness he displayed in the last minutes of his existence. Whoever is naive enough to believe this is over with Saddam's execution, does not know a thing about the Middle East. Arabs don't have the limited short-term memory we Americans have. Tribal rivalry, feelings of hatred and the desire of revenge can span several centuries and many generations.
PS: I wonder how Bush would appear under the same circumstances... Would he be able to confront death with the same courage? Would he still smirk as usual? Or would he start crying like the spoiled brat he is? I'd love to see that!
Now maybe we'll get some uncensored new coverage on how AIPAC is calling the shots for America.
Citizens of both the US and UK should be ashamed that they have governments which claim that Mr. Hussein's judicial murder represents some sort of "victory".
We are lazy, comfortable and apathetic and we deserve everything we are about to get in 2007 and beyond as a result. We listen to the lies our leaders spout about "weapons of mass destruction" as a justification for invading a country that could offer no resistance (I don't see us bombing North Korea or Iran back to the Stone Age, even though they REALLY have WMDs.) and do nothing. We know our leaders are in many ways as corrupt as Saddam was. Their considered response to 9-11 was in itself no better than tit-for-tat terrorism. The supporters of these morons run our industry and there is no difference between or accontability of big government or big corporations, because they are now the same thing. We do little to bring leaders of either to account for their crimes.
I can't really guess your motives for showing the videoclip of Mr, Hussein's grisly end, Dr. Rost.
I hope it was to show us the dignity of Saddam in his death, in sharp contrast to the cowardice and gloating of our leaders who declare total war on a small country from afar, with motives that are completely unclear and for reasons that turn out to be totally false (anyone found those WMDs yet?). I hope that by showing it, you are saying to our leaders "are you proud of what you have achieved here? Great victory, huh?"
But there's a tiny cynical bit of me that thinks you just wanted to say "hey, I showed it first", just to boost your ratings and blog traffic (it certainly worked). I hope that bit is wrong.
Much as believe that Bush and Bliar (no mis-spelling) deserve the same fate as Mr. Hussain, I would not wish it upon them in reality.
Actually, I think I might. But I wouldn't show a video of it.
Motives . . . to show what really happened. The fact that executions are disgusting is no reason not to show them, quite the opposite.
As for timing, yeah, if I hadn't been one of the first I might not have shown, since no point in copying everyone else.
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Focus of this blog is to "question authority;" any authority. Democrats, Republicans, CEOs, mighty people, generals, do-gooders, idealists.
Can someone tell me the difference between the two videos without forcing me to watch them? I can't watch this. I don't have the... whatever... to watch someone die. But I'd like to know what the difference between the cell phone version and the official version are...
Thanks!
In the uncensored version you see it in the official you don't. And in the official the sound and chanting is mysteriously gone.
Nice to know that the US isn't the only country with stupidity in power.
Pharma Giles, I also posted the censored video, on Dec. 30. It was hours after it had occurred. Had the uncensored version been out, I’d have posted that also. But as it stands, by the time the uncensored version hit the net, as the Doc said, it was everywhere so I didn’t feel the need to post an update.
My purpose for posting it was because it was news. Big news. And I saw nothing wrong with posting it. It’s one topic EVERYONE has an opinion on and I wanted to give an opportunity to discuss it, good, bad, or indifferent. What do you think motivates the people who post it? It’s not like we’re all purveyors of snuff films or something. Get a grip, this was a huge deal.
You “hope it was to show us the dignity of Saddam in his death”??? OMG are you serious? Dignity??? Do you think he deserved dignity? What would have been undignified would have been to turn him over to the families of those he murdered and let then tear him limb from limb. Dignified? He thinks he has 72 virgins waiting for him on the other side because he was God’s little crusader. Did you WATCH any of his trial? He was nuts. And not only did he murder countless numbers of his own people, he’s now cost us 3000 of our own.
I would imagine the Doc posted it for the same reason the rest of us did. It’s a great opportunity for discussion, whatever side you’re on. I seriously doubt that 1000 bloggers posted it simply to boost the site count. It was one of the biggest stories of the year. Deal with it.
And while I agree with you on the fact that I wouldn’t shed a tear if our leaders all came to the same fate, I have absolutely no problem with the fact that a murderous dictator was taunted a little bit before he was executed.
Poor Saddam, somebody get me a tissue…
Hi Moo. Actually, I do think a fairly high percentage of a 1000 bloggers would post a video of an execution just to boost traffic. Bloggers are by nature an attention-seeking lot.
But I don't really think the Doc (or you) are quite that bad. I just thought I'd "challenge authority" by mischievously posing the question.
Neither of us need a tissue, as neither of us will be shedding a tear for the death of a murderous tyrant.
But, yes I am serious about Saddam's dignity. Watch the video instead of boasting about showing it. The Doc is right about the shabby and seedy nature of the proceedings, which only served to make the guy look better than he was. But like him or loathe him, he took the build-up to the drop pretty well. No tears, no begging for mercy, and looking his masked killers squarely in the eye right to the end. You can't tell me that he wasn't the most dignified one of the rabble on that platform.
I bet the ol' draft dodger would have been blubbing for his Mom and Pop in the same situation...
Oh, and let's not forget who has cost us "3000 of our own". It was good 'ol Uncle George that sent the troops in, for reasons that were not at all clear at the time and get less clearer day by day.
Was Saddam behind 9/11? No.
Did Saddam pose a direct threat to us? No.
So just what cause are our brave young men dying for?
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