Who's behind the rapid acceleration of the Saddam execution?

[cobaindrain]

Something smells fishy here...one moment the trial is going on, the next they're building the gallows and picking out the rope.

First they say he's scheduled to die within the next 30 days, then it's within the next 3 weeks, then it's in the next week, then it's this weekend, then it's sunday, then it's saturday....now it's tonight? By tomorrow Saddam will have been dead for 2 weeks! What the hell, why the heck is this administration in such a hurry to off him? I thought it would be a symbolic, political thing Rove would pull to coincide with the new year, now it seems he's going to go before them?

what's the point of all this?

[Poll_Blind]

1. Getting their ducks in a row for the "surge"? n/t

PB

[Gatchaman]

5. Exactly.

Have to counteract the increase in violence, you know. And have to do it before the grown-ups take over congress.

[Donnachaidh]

2. GW hoping for accelerated violence in Iraq?

That way he can put on his mighty mouse costume and send more troops in quickly?

[jn2375]

3. Bush is planning on attack on Iran, check out Juan Cole

http://www.juancole.com /

sends chills down your spine

[bklyncowgirl]

14. Scary stuff--but Shrub will have to get this in before the Dems take over Congress

Execute Saddam, the Sunnis go crazy and blow up some Shiite Mosque, the Shiites retaliate and Bush's escalation goes as planned--then he bombs Iran as a warning.

Could happen. I hope not but I wouldn't put anything past this crowd.

[Missy M]

4. In Bush's pea brain he probably thinks it will help put a stop to..

the violence. He's such a delusional loser.

[leveymg]

6. It has to do with this number: 3,000

That's how many KIA we'll have in Iraq at some point in the next few days.

CNN already has a countdown to Saddam's Hanging. Coincidence?

[kimmerspixelated]

7. Yeah, I find it hard to understand what the hurry is.

No one gets executed this fast. You'd think they would want him to stew in his juices for awhile, like torture. But I suspect that something big is about to happen...perhaps some uprising that causes a bounce off of Iran and then boom-another war for Lord pissypants to completely fu** up!

[The Backlash Cometh]

9. Does anybody else get the feeling that Bush might get an unexpected

backlash from this lack of compassion? I mean, someday, what they did to Pinochet, they'll probably do to Bush: A world tribunal. Would anybody find him less guilty of crimes against humanity?

[Eugene]

8. The 3000th U.S. troop death in Iraq will probably happen Saturday.

It may have already happened, given the one day delay in casualty reports.
The Bushies need a "happier" milestone to counter it. They need a sign
of progress wherever they can find it.

[Windy]

10. Bush wants him executed before his speech on "the way forward"

or his interpretation of same, with regard to the situation in Iraq. My bet is that he thinks that if SH is executed, he will get a spike in the polls and then maybe some "dummies" will support his proposed "surge".

[PDittie]

11. The Muslim holiday

Iraqi law bans executions during holidays, and the Islamic holiday Eid al-Adha begins on Saturday, leading many to believe the execution could take place before then.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/12/29/hussein/index...

[Igel]

12. Verdict in November.

The law seems to say he gets executed within 30 days. We're within that thirty days, and so is tomorrow. So was yesterday. There's an interval (which I thought included tomorrow) during executions are supposedly a no-no, it's time for the Hajj. So it seems to be tomorrow or in a couple of weeks. Eh. It seems rushed, but thems the constraints. Wait, not wait, no big difference in terms of the legality. And it'll give the Sunnis something to mourn as Eid al-Adha, and something for the Shi'ites to celebrate.

He'll be executed tonight before 9 pm, which means before 6 am Saturday Iraq time. In other words, tonight's tomorrow morning.

[EST]

13. It's the law in Iraq-

If a defendant is found guilty of a capital offense, the sentence must be carried out within thirty days.
The trial for those nearly two hundred murders in Dujail was over in November, so the execution has to take place very soon, especially with the upcoming season-until Jan 7, I think-in which no one may be executed, depending on who is a believer.

Bush is hiding out, hoping his luck will change. The execution of Saddam Houssein is one of the spells that he is hoping will be the touchstone that will change his luck.

[Syncronaut Seven]

15. Sheer Panic, US Congressional investigations begin next Thursday

Could you imagine if they called Saddam to testify.

I REPEAT:

CAN YOU IMAGINE IF SADDAM HUSSEIN WAS CALLED TO TESTIFY IN FRONT OF A US CONGRESSIONAL SUBCOMITEE ???????

We would be having our own war crimes tribunals, in short order.

[donsu]

16. US and Israli neo cons

nt

[jcrew2001]

17. withdrawel

I think that Bush may be preparing for withdrawel. If Saddam is killed, he can claim a PR victory and begin withdrawel troops because he (1) sees that there is no long-term success for US troop presence and (2) perhaps Saddam's death will dampen the spirit of the insurgents, and end some of the violence. If we leave, then the insurgents can take over the country democratically and not through violence...maybe.

[mtnsnake]

18. Something to do with getting it done in 2006 for tax purposes?

edited to add: j/k of course.