Saddam Hussein's Death Penalty

Saddam Hussein former president of Iraq, mass murderer, was sentence to execution by Iraqi court for the slaughtering of 148 innocent people in the town of Dujail.



Saddam Hussein has made thousands of families suffer, so should he suffer to? By sentencing him to death is he getting the easy way out?

Even though his way of execution has already been decided he is still trying to dictate by saying he wants to be shot like a soldier and not hung like a common man. Even those who want to see their former leader dead do not believe that his execution will make things any better. The government is concerned that the death of Saddam Hussein will cause a civil war in Iraq between those who are loyal to him and those who hate him as an evil dictator. After the verdict the people of Shia district of Sadr city and the holy city of Najaf celebrated. However in Saddam’s hometown of Tikrit supporters vowed to avenge him.

He has 30 days to appeal for clemency, but it is believed that it won’t make much of a difference, and after he will be hung 30 days after the trial finishes. The current Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri Maliki, praised the conviction in a speech made on television saying “not a sentence on one man, but a sentence against all the dark period of his rule”.
"Maybe this will help alleviate the pain of the widows and the orphans, and those who have been ordered to bury their loved ones in secrecy, and those who have been forced to suppress their feelings and suffering, and those who have paid at the hands of torturers," Mr Maliki said.
US President George W Bush welcomed the verdict as a "milestone" in the efforts of the Iraqi people "to replace the rule of a tyrant with the rule of law".
But the European Union urged Iraq not to carry out the death sentence.

How will history remember Saddam Hussein? If Saddam is given the death penalty will he be remembered in history as a hero or villain? Some people might see Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Francisco Franco as heroes because history can be distorted over time. Whereas if he was given some other punishment like a very long jail sentence, people would see him as a bit useless and gradually stop listening to him.

In my opinion I believe that it would only make matters in Iraq worse if Saddam Hussein was hung. Execution would only make us murderers and he should be punished in a way that he will really regret what he did.

Hannah Davis