Do you think this insane hanging of Saddam will explode ?

[blues90]

Into more violence in Iraq , is it a distraction while they build up in the gulf off Iran ? Does one have to do with the other in a specific plan ?

[Monkeyman]

1. Yes and maybe more in the Middle East

[tridim]

2. Hanging Saddam is the one thing that will guarantee more profits

for the war profiteers and oil companies.

[shadowknows69]

3. Why does the hanging rescue scene

from "The Adventures of Robin Hood" keep flashing in my head. Except with RPGs. And it wouldn't surprise me if our own CIA busted him out. Yeah I'm having a Twilight Zone day but hey, that's where we all live now so what the hell?

[chefgirl]

4. Of course

If they lost their minds over cartoons depicting images of Mohammed, I think its a safe bet that this will be a PRIME excuse for ever increasing violence.

I suppose its possible that its a distraction, the timing, that is. Nothing they do surprises me anymore.

-chef-

[dave_p]

5. No

It won't change the political or military situation at all. Even Baathists aren't fighting for a Saddam restoration - indeed a Saddam-free Baath ascendancy has an appeal that should extend far beyond the party's ranks.

I don't think it's related to anything but the sick fantasies of those who've plunged Iraq into a far worse nightmare than Saddam ever did. It also has the useful consequence of silencing the guy who knows where the real bodies are buried.

It should be opposed not because it's of any consequence to others, but because it's wrong, a judicial murder by the kangaroo court of a regime of butchering quislings installed by foreign arms. Kafka must be kicking himself.

[MrCoffee]

6. not really...

Saddam was a legend in his own mind, and in the mind of the Chimp. I don't think Iraqis will shed too many tears when he's gone. They suffered for a long time under his government.

[warrens]

7. He should have been tried in the Hague

Hanging him has zero upside. It just looks like cheap revenge. What dictator in the world hasn't gotten even after an attempted assassination?

Yeah, he's a bad, bad man. So are half the people we do business with worldwide.

[BuyingThyme]

8. Executing the leader of state under occupation?

No thang.

Freedom is on the march.

[chknltl]

9. No... I do not think it will be a catalyst for further violence there.

I do not see where the escalating violence will be impacted by Saddam's death at all. I believe that the folks leading the violence are looking to carve out their chunks of Iraq. Saddam once "owned" all of it so to speak. Now that he is out of the way they are free to do as they will. His death or imprisonment will be a non-issue in my opinion for those particular people. The regular civilians may pause to celebrate his demise though, I don't think they share my liberal views on the DP.

My worry here is how the bfee will use this... I sense that they will spin the hell out of this and it will not be done in such a way that favors anyone except the bullet makers. (Another-words they will try to further stir shit up in the ME with this is what I am fearing)

[On the Road]

10. I've Been Wondering if This Will be the Trigger

for an incursion into the Green Zone with many Western deaths. On the other hand, I have heard that even a lot of Sunnis are not too anxious for Saddam to be free because of possible reprisals against anyone except loyalists. So it may not have an immediate impact. But never underestimate how martyrdom can change someone's image overnight.

[Igel]

11. It will be seen by many Sunnis as additional

humiliation inflicted by the Shi'a. The humiliation will be greatest in and around Tikrit. However, so many Sunnis are already so driven by humiliation that this will only push a handful over the edge. In a region where things like Saddam's execution are excuses and not motivations, but nobody can say it without incurring humiliation, it will be trumpeted as the motivation for some attacks.

It will be seen by the Shi'a as justice, i.e., doing what they think should be done. It will remove part of their humiliation.

[kentuck]

12. This could explode the entire Middle East...

The majority of most of the Middle East are Sunni - not Shia. They know the decision is being made by George W Bush - not the Iraqi "government".