Saddam....30 days and counting

[RICHARD]

Good point.

Think we could deduct that on our taxes, if we itemize?

Charitable Donations to Despots - $876 billion dollars

Dude!


I need a calculator!

[lizbud]

They executed Saddam's half brother and another one of his cohorts
today. They say one of the men was decapitated by the hanging.


Saddam's Half Brother Beheaded In Hanging


UPDATED: 9:43 am EST January 15, 2007

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Two top aides to Saddam Hussein were hanged before dawn Monday, and the head of one of them -- the former Iraqi dictator's half brother Barzan Ibrahim -- was severed from his body during the execution, a government official said.

Two weeks and two days after Saddam was executed in an unruly scene that has drawn worldwide criticism, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh stressed that all laws and rules were respected during Monday's hanging of Ibrahim, the former intelligence chief, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, head of Iraq's Revolutionary Court.

"Those present signed documents pledging not to violate the rules or otherwise face legal penalties. All the people present abided by the government's rule and there were no violations," he said, adding the hangings occurred at 3 a.m. "No one shouted slogans or said anything that would taint the execution. None of those charged were insulted."


The official government video of the side-by-side hanging that was shown to a small group of reporters, including one from The Associated Press, showed Ibrahim and al-Bandar wearing red prison jumpsuits. As they reached the gallows, black hoods were put on their heads and five masked men surrounded them.

After the trap doors opened, al-Bandar could be seen dangling from the rope. Ibrahim's body was lying on the floor, chest down, his still-hooded severed head resting several yards away.

The execution was conducted on the same gallows where Saddam was hanged Dec. 30 in a building located in the Shiite neighborhood of Kazimiyah. Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the gallows were built to international standards and in accordance with human rights organizations.

"We will not release the video, but we want to show the truth," he said. "The Iraqi government acted in a neutral way."

Prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi said Ibrahim looked tense when he was brought into the room and said "I did not do anything. It was all the work of Fadel al-Barrak." Ibrahim was referring to a former head of two intelligence departments."

The government came under widespread condemnation because of Saddam's chaotic execution in which video of the hanging, recorded on a cell phone camera, showed the former dictator being taunted on the gallows.

Ibrahim and al-Bandar had been found guilty along with Saddam in the killing of 148 Shiite Muslims after a 1982 assassination attempt on the former leader in the town of Dujail north of Baghdad.

The announcement drew outrage from some in the Sunni community while majority Shiites who were heavily persecuted under Saddam's regime expressed joy.

Khalaf al-Olayan, a leader of the main Sunni bloc in parliament, demanded to see any video taken during the execution.

"It is impossible for a person to be decapitated during a hanging," he told Al-Jazeera television. "This shows that they (the government) have mutilated the body and this is a violation of the law."

"We want to see the video that was taken during the execution of the two men in order for them (government) to prove what they are saying," he added.

A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose the information, said the families of Ibrahim and al-Bandar would collect the bodies later Monday.

The two men were to have been hanged along with Saddam, but Iraqi authorities decided to execute the former dictator alone on what National Security Adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie called a "special day."

Last week, President Jalal Talabani urged the government to delay the executions but gave no explanation during a news conference with U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said that Khalilzad asked him to delay Saddam's execution for 10 days to two weeks, but added that Iraqi officials rejected the demand.












.

[Freckles]

T"It is impossible for a person to be decapitated during a hanging,"

This is not true. The length of rope must be calculated carefully to the weight of the person.
There are charts on the web describing this.

[lizbud]

Quote:

"Khalaf al-Olayan, a leader of the main Sunni bloc in parliament, demanded to see any video taken during the execution.

"It is impossible for a person to be decapitated during a hanging," he told Al-Jazeera television. "This shows that they (the government) have mutilated the body and this is a violation of the law."

"We want to see the video that was taken during the execution of the two men in order for them (government) to prove what they are saying," he added.
"


Well this guy doesn't believe it and I have never heard of such a thing
either. It just sounds weird.

[Freckles]

It's true. I learned this a few years ago when a very bad Vancouver man was hanged.
Try a search on the web and you can even find a chart with the information.

The things we can find on the web!

[Twisterdog]

According to MSNBC News Services, 2:46 p.m. MT Jan 15, 2007, BAGHDAD, Iraq:


"Hangmen gauge the length of rope needed to snap the neck of the condemned but not to create enough force to sever the head.

Saleem al-Jibouri, a senior Sunni Arab lawmaker, said Ibrahim's body might have been weakened by the cancer he was suffering."

[Vela]

Umm ewwwwww!