Why kill Saddam?? Is this the right punishment?

Question

As almost anyone can agree, Saddam needs to be punished. He committed crimes against many Shiites and Kurds, but are we sending ourselves back a couple of centuries with this eye-for-an-eye ideology?

Many rational humans across the world, including Muslims, Christians (the pope's top prelate) and the civilized world at large have come out denouncing capital punishment against Saddam.

It also seems like we would be fueling terrorism. Many groups have come out claiming that they will kill more people.

Are we doing the right thing?

Here's an article:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061106/ap_on_re_mi_ea/saddam_verdict_world_view

Answer 1

The only reason to justify execution would to prevent him from ever hurting more people. Taking revenge is pointless and killing him for that reason is just putting the rest of us equal to him. If he can be permanently locked away, never to be heard of again, that would be the way to go. Keep in mind, no matter what the punishment, it won't make any difference to those who have died at his hands, but at least will give the families some sort of closure.

Answer 2

Know one can be sure what the right answer is. For some he should suffer and die horribly to atone for his murderous rule, for others it would make us as bad as him. The first ask the others 'what if it were your families that were tortured and killed, what would you do then'. There is no ONE RIGHT answer, as there will always be two sides; an eye for an eye or the we cant lower ourselves to their level arguments. There is also the contention that he will viewed as a living martyr, alive or dead he'll be viewed as a martyr by his followers, alive however, there is always the hope (for them) that he can be freed or better yet (for his followers) returned to power. For me i would like him to suffer the same unimaginable pain he inflicted on others every day for the rest of his life, but alas it'll be over in a split second and he'll doubtlessly feel nothing (not that he ever has). Better he stew for the rest of his days in the same squalid conditions he had others endure. Whatever the outcome, the fact his reign is over is what matters, I can only hope the next one comes soon and the Iraqi people can start to LIVE year to year rather than day to day!!!

Answer 3

I'm gonna take a leap here and go for the gold ring (and probably get slammed for it!), so here goes. One of the reasons things are going down the tubes is that no one is being punished enough to deter crime. Criminals get a slap on the wrist and turned back out on the streets, to do worse than before. Many know that they'll get caught...so what...three hots and a cot...what a life for them...no responsibility...and they'll be back out to do it all over again. In some places, it's safer in the jails than it is on the streets. Some people have more locks on their doors than a maximum security prison. So, what's YOUR solution? Let them all go? Lock them up forever, so that they'll drain our taxes dry? Turn them over to the ones they hurt, and let them deal with the criminals on their terms? Forget about all the people Saddam has murdered & their families, and allow him to go free? Everyone seems to have an answer, when the answer is to make sure he pays for his crimes in a way that will discourage anyone from doing the same thing. Why shouldn't he die for his crimes? He murdered hundreds of people. Locking him up would be like slapping his victims families in the face, telling them that their losses don't deserve restitution. What if he had murdered someone you loved? Wouldn't you want him to pay in a way that he'd never do that crime again? And how could you rehabilitate a man like that? He's not sorry for what he did. He shows no remorse over all those he had killed. Would you feel comfortable that he could actually go free some day? Guys like this need to pay with their lives for their crime. This sends a message to all the other criminals that this kind of crime will NOT be tolerated and is a dead end road (literally). There, I said it...I support the death penatly. It IS the right thing (the only thing) to do. Okay, you can throw tomatoes now!! <*)))><

Answer 4

First of all, WE (I'm assuming you mean America) are not doing anything. The Iraqi government has tried and convicted Hussein. Thankfully they adhere to justice and a fair trial, the presentation of evidence. Saddam is a very bad boy. Everyone knows that. If we were to let every bad boy free just because there might be serious retaliations from other thugs, then we would have no concept of law and order. And it would be anarchy. It is a deterrant to have in place a causal corollary of punishment for one's evil acts. Once that is taken away, then you'll have more evil acts.

Some act in fear. Others act in fearlessness. Which one are you?

Answer 5

1.Bush is determined to win this election.
2.Saddam will become the greatest 'Martyr' in Mid Eastern history.
3.Safety and security as we know it will be forever changed
4.It will cause a HUGEEEEEEE world war.
5.America will be officially responsible for its own 'death'
6.We will be living in a world of terror.
7.First Saddam, second Bush?

No it is not the right punishment.. he shouldn't even be captured to begin with.. as troops should never have invaded to begin with. It'll be the same story again and again...

Answer 6

I have a very strange and eerie feeling that this is the start of something HUGE. Saddam will become a martyr. I hope that I am wrong, but I really feel that this will increase terrorism and lead to more war.

Saddam needs to be punished for what he did, but death will only make him a martyr. Is that what we want?

Answer 7

i can't have self belief they say "we did no longer kill him, it replaced into Iraqis" while it replaced into incredibly the puppet government that we put in place, additionally if the Iraqis needed him long gone plenty, why did they unveil a marble statue on the instant in his honor, why are they crying on his casket, why do they attempt to kill American troops popular, until now we've been given in touch, there have been homes in Iraq, there have been jobs, and commerce, now the people administration the oil, and there is violence everywhere, yet they have the liberty to vote from multiple authorized leaders, as long as they do no longer stay in Shiite neighborhoods (too violent)

Answer 8

If he were to live in prison for the rest of his life, he no doubt would be living a much better life than he deserves compared to other inmates..yes he should be hung..sorry to say he probably should be tortured first only because of the murders that he committed and the torturing that he did to others..case closed..

Answer 9

Yes. He needs to be put to death. It's important that the people of Iraq can see and understand that this brutal dictator is indeed dead, or they will still fear him. He already escaped a death penalty once.
Also you should never appease terrorists. You should never do what you think the terrorists would not approve of. That is playing right into their hands. These people you cannot reason with or make deals with. They will continue to kill no matter what. Appeasement is what gave Hitler power, and we have not learned this lesson.

Answer 10

It's not like saddam killed a few people here and there...this guy's a mass murderer. I have served in both gulf wars. In the first one we discovered mass graves of kurds numbering 600,000 people. this is genocide. So to answer your question...yes he deserves to die for his actions. One reason is because the ultimate crime deserves the ultimate punisment. Secondly, if he is kept alive he'll be a bargining chip for terrorists...they'll hijack planes, blow people up all to release Saddam. If he's dead, there's no chip