"Life under Saddam was much better than it is now"

[shance]

"Everything is worse," Noor said. "What did we gain from him being gone?"

<snip>

But she doesn't blame him for her current problems. That, she said, is the Americans' fault.

"They haven't done anything," she said. "There's no oil. There's no kerosene. There's no electricity. If they really wanted to make things work, they would."

Adnan Mizher, 34, a former army officer from Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad, said his brother was executed by Hussein's government. Still, he said, life was better under Hussein. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, he said, has done nothing for Iraqis.

"Today, there are killings, murder, kidnappings and displacement of people on sectarian grounds," he said. "Life under Saddam was much better than now. The hell of Saddam is better than the paradise that Maliki promised us."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/30/AR2006123000386.html

[k_jerome]

1. lol. c'mon. nt.

[rockymountaindem]

5. It probably was better for him under Saddam as an army officer

I'm sure he used to be well taken care of by the regime. Now there's chaos. Which do you think he prefers?

[k_jerome]

10. i have no doubt he prefers it. its just ridiculous the lengths...

to make pump Saddam up. I find it laughable.

Ya know, there were probably people in Germany that were sad to see Hitler go too.

[Left Is Write]

17. The point is not that Saddam Hussein was good.

The point is that it's worse now. Scary prospect, isn't it?

[k_jerome]

19. my point is...

it is worse for some in every situation. i am sure if you polled all Iraqi's they would choose life w/o Saddam.

[Left Is Write]

20. I'm sure some would choose one way and some another.

I don't disagree with you there. I disagree that it's some kind of attempt to "pump up" Saddam.

[k_jerome]

22. its cherrypicking one persons opinion...

when the vast majority probably feel otherwise.

[Left Is Write]

23. I have no doubt that more similar opinions could be found.

I just don't see any indication that the OP is trying to make Saddam look good.

[k_jerome]

24. ok. nt.

[Dangerman]

31. But Saddam is not evil either...

Compared to Bush and his stooges playing the Iraqis like chess pieces.

[eridani]

29. Pointing out that the fire is worse than the frying pan--

--is hardly advocating that being fried is a good thing.

[Warren Stupidity]

12. Read the post.

"his brother was executed by Hussein's government". Try again. I'm sorry reality sucks but the facts are that by many measures things are now worse in Iraq. That does not make Saddam some sort of great guy, it means, as this Iraqi points out, that things are even worse now than they were under the brutal tyrant Hussein.

[Toots]

39. What do you know of life under Saddam?

Did you know Iraq was a Secular nation that held free elections in every village to elect it's leaders. Did you know that Iraq was the most "westernized" of all Arab nations? Did you know women were free to do what they wish at all times, such as attend major universities and drive cars and walk the streets alone in western dress. Did you know religious extremism was forbidden and brutally punished when it would take shape? Did you know that Iraq flourished under Saddam? Iraq's wealth was not kept at the top like the other Arab nations, it was put back into the country in the form of schools and streets and utilities, all of which are lacking now....Saddam mayt have been a brutal ruler but his country flourished and the people did also....

[Viva_La_Revolution]

2. bad link

:(

it has been disappeared.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=%22Adnan+Mizher%2C+34%2C+a+former+army+officer+from+Diyala+province%22&btnG=Search

[shance]

8. Thanks Viva*** I think its fixed now.

n/t

[KingFlorez]

3. Things are worse

Of course, the previous government was authoritarian, but the place wasn't in disarray like it is now.

[cali]

9. Worse for some, but not for others.

Better for the Kurds and Marsh Shi'a. Worse for the people in Baghdad and other cities. And that's a huge chunk of the population.

[shance]

11. How do you know Cali? Because the Administration tells you so?

Or CNN?

Or Faux?

Or do you happen to live there?

[cali]

14. No, smartass.

I read. I read blogs and periodicals from across the spectrum, including Iraqi blogs. So, no, I don't get my information from bush, or the TV. Where do you get your information, oh exalted one? Counterpunch?

Oh yeah, and what I'd like to say to you would get this post deleted, so just use your little imagination and think of Dick Cheney speaking to Pat Leahy on the Senate floor.

[shance]

30. LOL! Whew boy talking about smartass! Youve got to be the poster child.

You and your cocky rude 'ass' can bet on it.

So I guess we should just call you Dick now?

Works for me.

Oh be sure to hit alert Cali.

I'm sure you're a quick draw on that by now.

[cali]

36. Nope.

I'm not big on alerting. Three words for you though: Pot. Kettle. Complexion. As for my thoughts about you, I refer you to my earlier post.

[cali]

37. By the way, shance.

I posted a comment on your thread that was in no way disrespectful of the thread itself or even remotely snarky. YOU started in with the insults. What the fuck did you expect? That I'd simply meekly accept your rude comments? Not. A. Chance.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

4. Still Said It Was Hell Under Saddam Though, Didn't He. Let's Not Lose Sight Of That.

Just so happens, however, that Saddam is now in his own hell.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

6. actually it ended for him

when they killed him.

now he's just nothing.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

7. Please Allow Me To Hold Onto My Humorous Vision Of Saddam And Satan Ala South Park.

Thanks.

:)

[951-Riverside]

18. You won't be missed OPERATIONMINDCRIME. n/t

[cali]

21. you mean he won't be missed by YOU

I'd sorely miss him, even if I don't always agree with him.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

27. Thanks Cali. Just No Idea What The Delusion Was Stemmed From Though.

What in the world was that poster talking about? Man, things are gettin strange around here LOL

(seriously, some need to start laying off of the drugs or somethin) :)

[Dangerman]

32. I agree.

In my point of view Saddam was bullied and tormented by the United States beyond the point of human tolerance.

Not even Stalin and Hitler COMBINED had THIS much treatment.

George W. Bush, his father, and, like it or not, Bill Clinton, like to get rid of Saddam of the face of the Earth, even it means killing thousands of innocent people through years of sanctions, bombings and assassination attempts.

Under different circumstances we would have negotiated with Saddam to lift the sanctions and save thousands of starving children, but hatred for an "enemy" who never killed, let alone harmed, a single American citizen, not to mention never threatened or attacked the United States, can lead to horrific things.

Osama bin Laden hates Saddam too, remember. He's just pissed off at the sanctions that are killed children, not to mention the continuous bombings. That's why Osama attacked us.

Bin Laden attacked America, and our response is to get rid of the wrong guy. This is Bush's sinister agenda, and another reason why Bush, not Saddam, is the REAL man who should not be trusted.

[cali]

33. This may come as a shock to you

but it's possible to find the actions of both Saddam and bushco, reprehensible.

As for the sanctions-Saddam is equally culpable of the deaths of so many children. While they were starving he was building palace after palace and other monuments to his own inflated ego- not to mention stealing millions and millions from his own people.

In addition please don't forget about Saddam's disasterous war with Iran. On top of everything else he's responsible for those deaths and that misery.

As for you proclamation of why bin Laden attacked us, like everyone else you're merely speculating.

I have no more sympathy for Saddam than I do for bush.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

26. Ummmmmm, What The Hell Are You Talking About? Are You Insane?

First of all, your unwarranted attack is a bit perplexing, but I guess you don't have much else to offer. Furthermore, damned if I know what the fuck you're talking about. Was I going somewhere?

Jesus, did you start your new years drinking early or something?

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[angstlessk]

13. It is about invading and pretending we know better...not about

sadaam being dead...sadaan could have lived to be 100 Iraq would not be better off...because WE invaded and occupied their country...and decided we knew better than their 4,000 year old culture. Sorry I know it was better under Sadaam...sean pitt could walk down bagdhad streets BEFORE the invasion..could he now? NO!

[Robbien]

15. Of course it was better before

Reporter returns to Baghdad to find it far different - and worse off
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/world/16337639.htm?source=rss&channel=krwashington_world

When I was last here in 2005, it took guts and guards, but you could still travel to most anywhere in the capital. Now, there are few true neighborhoods left. They're mostly just cordoned-off enclaves in various stages of deadly sectarian cleansing. Moving trucks piled high with furniture weave through traffic, evidence of an unfolding humanitarian crisis involving hundreds of thousands of forcibly displaced Iraqis.

The Sunni-Shiite segregation is the starkest change of all, but nowadays it seems like everything in Baghdad hinges on separation. There's the Green Zone to guard the unpopular government from its suffering people, U.S. military bases where Iraqis aren't allowed to work, armored sedans to shield VIPs from the explosions that kill workaday civilians, different TV channels and newspapers for each political party, an unwritten citywide dress code to keep women from the eyes of men.

Crisis in Housing Adds to Miseries of Iraq Mayhem
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/29/world/middleeast/29homeless.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin

Now, after more than 10 months of brutal sectarian reprisals, many more Iraqis have fled their neighborhoods, only to wind up often in places that are just as wretched in other ways. While 1.8 million Iraqis are living outside the country, 1.6 million more have been displaced within Iraq since the war began. Since February, about 50,000 per month have moved within the country.

Shelter is their most pressing need, aid organizations say. Some have been able to occupy homes left by members of the opposing sect or group; others have not been so fortunate. The longer the violence persists, the more Iraqis are running out of money and options.

Shatha Talib, 30, her husband and five children, are among about a thousand struggling Iraqi families that have taken up residence in the bombed-out remains of the former Iraqi Air Defense headquarters and air force club in the center of Baghdad. “Nobody should live in such a place,” she said. “But we don’t have any other option.”

With many families in such encampments or worse, and many others doubled or tripled up in friends’ or relatives’ homes, the deputy housing minister, Istabraq al-Shouk, puts the shortage at two million dwellings across Iraq.

Iraqi officials say that after security, housing is a priority, but plans to address the problem are minimal.

In Baghdad, a Last Stand Against Ethnic Cleansing
http://www.time.com/time/world/printout/0,8816,1573037,00.html

Lt. Sam Cartee doubts the Sunni families barricading themselves in his sector can hold out much longer. Shi'ite militants thought to be from the Mahdi Army have mounted an aggressive campaign since this summer to clear Sunnis from the northern end of Ghazaliya, a formerly posh neighborhood in western Baghdad. The cleansing push has moved steadily southward, gaining ground house by house, day by day. Cartee says Mahdi Army fighters typically give Sunni families they threaten in Ghazaliya just 24 hours to leave their homes, which are then handed to Shi'ite families. Anyone who defies the deadline risks death. Few do, allowing the Mahdi Army to flip up to five houses a day. Many of the Sunni families forced from their homes have now gathered in an enclave in central Ghazaliya under the protection of a local sheik named Hamed Ne'ma Taher al-Obaydy, who has turned his block into an Alamo of sorts. Cartee's unit hopes to stop the onslaught before Hamed's holdout of about 1,200 people falls, but lately hopes on both sides have dimmed. "They're not surrounded yet, but they will be soon," says Cartee, a reedy young officer from West Virginia who speaks with a slight southern accent. Cartee thinks Hamed's flock can last perhaps weeks, not months, before the Mahdi Army overruns them. "They don't have long."

These are just a few of the many articles printed in the last couple of days outlining the horror that is Iraq today.

[dave_p]

16. Nothing new

Lots of Iraqis are now saying life was better under Saddam.

And don't forget that the last dozen years of his regime coincided with the harshest sustained international sanctions regime in history.

The decade before that was dominated by the devastating Iran war.

Creating nostalgia for that takes quite some doing. But when your mission's one only of destruction, even that's possible.

[Gregorian]

25. I heard something last night.

In another forum I frequent, someone mentioned last night that Saddam had tortured three of his family members. Not only did he say that Iraq is worse now, but the most damning part is, he hates George Bush more than Saddam.

And it's not a political forum. It's an art forum. And this guy never discusses politics at all. It was just out of the blue. Only because Saddam had just been killed.

[mogster]

28. When is 'before'?

Before Hussein was executed, before he was captured or before he was toppled? Or before the sanctions? Before Gulf War I? Before he was built up by the 'West' as a dictator during the 80's?

It seems the Iraqi people has lost in every period, all the way since the 70's.

[phylny]

34. I know a woman from Jordan who has said much the same thing.

It's not that he wasn't a horrible, vicious dictator, it's that for most Iraqis, they had employment, stability, food, electricity, and education and that's what they cared most about. According to this woman, most people in the middle east "don't want democracy because they don't know how to live in it."

She is widely traveled, speaks seven languages, and has lived in many countries in the middle east. I am always fascinated to hear her point of view, since she is so much more worldly than I am.

[truth2power]

35. Why it was better under Sadaam...

Weeks ago, there was an Iraqi woman interviewed on NPR. What she said made more sense, to me, than all the better/worse comparisons between Saddam's rule and the "rule" the Americans are inflicting on the Iraqis.

She said (paraphrasing) that under Saddam the oppression was systematic. That's the word she used. That is, you knew that if you did certain things i.e. not speaking out against the government, not insulting Saddam in front of your kids, not being "political", etc., you get the idea, you could be fairly certain you would survive.

Now, according to this woman, the violence is random. There is no way to know what it takes to survive. She stated the following: "You get killed if you're Sunni. You get killed if you're Shiite." You get killed just on general principles. There's no way to know how to protect yourself.

IMO, not being able to predict what you need to do to survive must be a hellish way to live.

Before some people here decide to extrapolate from what I've said that I think Saddam was a nice guy, let me say this: I felt neither joy nor sorrow, particularly, from the fact of his death. I posted in another thread, over the weekend, that Saddam allied himself with the American Government in the past. He should have known (not like there isn't a pattern here) that the American govt. would turn on him when he no longer served their needs. Any dictator who trusts the Americans gets what he deserves, IMO.

On the other hand, I am angered and, yes, saddened by the circumstances of his death, that is, the kangaroo court that shuffled him off in order to SHUT HIM UP. Can't have him flapping his jaws about American complicity in his predations over the years. CheneyBush are as guilty as Saddam. Why are they still free?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

38. Reactions from Iraqi bloggers. They're as mixed as we are.

Everything from glee to despair, but most fear for the future and expect more violence.

http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/468/Iraqi_Bloggers_React_to_Saddam_Execution

Reactions to Saddam's execution in the Iraqi blogosphere:

Sami - Iraqi Thoughts I am still shocked even after watching hours of TV. Its funny how as I grew up this was the man I hated most in my life and have always wanted him killed but for some reason the feelings of joy were not what I expected. There are many reasons for that but I think mainly the fact that this ended up being an Al Dawa political party fight versus Saddam is what saddens me. Al Dawa where the political party involved in Dujail, the first case Saddam was tried on was Dujail (in my eyes a big mistake) but that was on the orders of former Iraqi PM Ibrahim Al-Ja'afari who comes from the Al Dawa party. Coincidentally the warrant was signed by Al-Maliki again from the Al Dawa party and finally exclusive footage of Saddam's dead corpse was shown on Al Dawa's TV channel Baladi. I just wish that he could have faced all the charges against him, but I am no politician and maybe they couldn't wait any longer. Finally I don't think the situation will change in Iraq much because the people who hate Saddam or love him are all still going to have the same deep hatred and divisons towards each other. Unity isn't about being the same but about accepting each other's differences and the way Iraqis act that does not look like happening any time soon.

Iraq Pundit - Saddam has long been a dead man walking, and I don't care about him or whatever hell he has gone to. My concern is how his well-deserved execution will affect the continuing crisis in Iraq. Most of those around me feel the same way. An older relative who long ago fled Iraq thought of Saddam as the man who signed tens of thousands of death warrants. And even younger relatives who never lived under Saddam regard him as a man undeserving of sympathy. All of us are focused on seeing Iraq's current agony come to an end.

24 Steps to Liberty - The scene basically dismissed my life, my emotional sufferings, my sleepless nights under Saddam Hussein's regime and it dismissed any respect to what I've been through. Watching Hussein walking to the gallows was what reassured me that the "liberation" wasn't for the Iraqis to enjoy, but for an invasion to allow the exiles, especially the Mullahs, to take revenge. What's next? Does it mean my family will be safe now that Saddam Hussein is dead? Does it mean the Iraqis will stop hating each other and killing each other? There are no more Shiites and Sunnis slaughtering each other? Did they think killing Saddam Hussein will unite the Iraqis and solve the problem? The answer to those questions is: No. And they don't care!

Dr Fadhil Badran - Iraq4Ever The assassination of Saddam Hussein has killed the last hope of peace in Iraq. I think, this assassination has been planned by Iran, Israel, and Britain; those players used the US as a fire-catcher! Iran chose to assassinate him on the 1st. day of Al-Ad'ha to say that the Eid is not on the 30th of December, which means that Muslims are not unified, and of course because Saddam had stopped the Persian dream to occupy the Arab countries in the gulf area. Israel has chose the way of assassination by Hanging him to make revenge for the Israeli spies who were hanged in Baghdad in 1969. Britain insists on the assassination for the revenge of Saddam Hussein nationalization of the Iraqi petroleum in 1971. The only losers in this event are the Iraqis and the American soldiers in Iraq.

Treasure of Baghdad - Although I expected it, I was shocked when I heard it. I felt I want to cry but my tears were mixed, tears of happiness and sadness at the same time. Memories of my life under Saddam flashed back in my mind like a train moving fast. An important chapter of our life is finally over. I felt happy because finally the one who suppressed us is gone and forever now. However, I felt sad because his execution is going to increase the blood bath that is already taking place. I felt sad because Saddam was replaced by more tyrants instead of one. Iraq is not a free country yet. Iraq is suffering from Mullahs and Sheikhs who most of them are religious extremists who are trying to take back Iraq to hundreds years back. Sunni and Shiite extremists who are in the government and parliament now are the ones who are imposing their religious ideas on people and in a country where most of its cities were secular. If someone criticizes them, they kill him. So what's the difference? Saddam is hanged and so should the ones ruling Iraq now.

Mohammed - Iraq the Model Executing Saddam is an execution to a dark era in Iraq's history and it's a message to all those who followed his ways that there is no turning back; yes, the people will never kneel to a tyrant again and will never give up. The future is in the hands of the people and they will choose their way no matter how big the sacrifice is. We have suffered too much for too long and we deserve a better life and that we will keep pursuing.

On this day as we celebrate justice we shall not forget to pray for blessings for the souls of the dictator's victims and we shall not forget to thank our brothers in America and the rest of the coalition nations who helped us and are still helping us in our struggle to build the new free and democratic Iraq.

Nabil - Nabil's Blog Well, he deserves it, but I can't deny that I woke up today receiving very sad news, which is the execution of Saddam. It was Eid morning and everyone should be at my grandpa's house celebrating the holiday and having fun...but this Eid was never the same in my grandpa's house. I went there as we usually do each Eid, but everyone was so sad. They were so overwhelmed with the news. I personally am not very sad yet not happy with the news. I felt bad because he was this great president of Iraq, and now we see him being treated with hate and being executed in Eid's morning. It's not fair enough unless they execute both Al-Sadr and Al-Hakiem with him.

Neurotic Iraqi - Wife Yes I cried, I cried today. I cried for all the anger and the fury thats stranded inside of me. I cried for all those who died on his hands and all those who are still dying. I cried for the Tigris and Euphrates thats filled with blood, endless blood. I cried for all the mass graves he left behind and are still filling up. And mostly, I cried for all the children, the children that were orphaned during his time. The children that never got to have a normal life. The children that were faced with fending for themselves at an early age. The children who no longer remained children. Their childhood stolen from them because of a selfish ruthless narcistic ruler. Yes I cried. I cried at the end of an era. A Horrific Era.

Najma - A Star From Mosul We were so angry, not for the fact that he was executed, but for how and when he was executed.I managed to sleep for few hours before waking up again for breakfast, I logged online to the BBC and AlJazeera and knew the details.. You see when asked why the execution was done on the first day of Eid, a member of the court said that Eid starts on Sunday in Iraq as I read on Al-Jazeera. This made me even angrier. Thanks to the new freedom, Eid starts on Saturday for Sunnis, and on Sunday for some of the Shiites, Monday for the others. Sunnis are Iraqis, and Eid DOES start on Saturday in Iraq. Saddam's death won't lead to anything good, as did his arrest, and trial.. As I've said before, he was a dictator, but now, to me, he was not but a leader who made things work!

HNK - HNK's - Blog 0 I felt deep sadness when I heard the news. I think they did the most stupid thing by executing Saddam in the first day of Eid. What they were thinking? All the people around me feel sad. You know and I know that he was not a good president but after all he is better (much better) than Nory al- maliky and the others. And Saddam compared with them is a great president. And there is no argument that he was brave man. In his time: we were living in PEACE. We were able to go outside home after 6 in the evening. We were.... we were... what can I say. For now, I don't see a future for Iraq (I don't see a good future) and after all I want to say: We look forwards to the time when the power of love replace the love of power then our country will know the pleasing of peace.

Hope is the only think that keeping me up and I don't know whether I can hold more hope after this or not. I think I am going to quit. I hope Iraq will stand up again and rise and repeat its great history. We are the future, we built our future and we have to say our words and people have to hear our voice.

El-Delilah - Delilah Talks For a person that has long-wished for this day to come, I am quite surprised by the lack of reaction on my part. It might have been a good idea to hang him and get over with things, however I have a grave feeling that justice wasn't quite served for he is only killed for crimes against Shiites. Perhaps they should have waited and tried him for the remainder of his crimes, bringing a final, rather broader closure to the suffering of thousands and perhaps millions of other Iraqis. The execution might as well fuel sectarian and ethnic conflicts because the disregard to other cases might be taken for discrimination, since people don't always agree with the government.

Eye Raki - The hopes and dreams of many Baathists died when Saddam's neck was snapped. The execution IMO won't decrease the amount of violence in Iraq, but it will make it easier for a lot of Iraqis who lost members of their family under his brutal regime. One Iraqi today said, "I feel like my brother is still alive". Saddam is not going to come back, and the Baathists will have to wake up and realise that they will never enjoy the same power they did under his reign. Either join the political process, or face the wrath of a democratically elected government's armed forces that would like nothing better to do then hunt down those bastards. His execution will no doubt send shockwaves across the region, all Arab and Muslim dictators (who once all feared Saddam) will now know that nothing is impossible, and they too could be behind bars one day, or worse, face the same fate Saddam did. People's reaction to this execution is, i think, a true measure of what they are made of. The ones that are outraged at his death, are the probably the ones who support terrorism, fund terrorism or are terrorists themselves. The fools that are saying this was an unlawful execution and that Saddam was a legitimate ruler seem to have a very short memory. Saddam himself became President of Iraq through an ILLEGAL coup de tat. The bastards who are defending him today should at the very least stop making fools of themselves on TV.

Majed Jarrar - Me vs. Myself As I woke up to welcome the sun of the happy day of Eid Al-Adha, I was informed of the breaking news that Saddam had been just executed. The first moment I heard the news, I was shocked. I felt deep sadness and great loss. It reminded me of the similar feeling I had when I saw the statue of Saddam falling at Al-Firdaws circle. I felt that the dignity of Iraqis, our dignity, was targeted with both events. His execution seemed to be the first step of the mission of wiping Iraq off the map as a united state. It filled me with rage and frustration to see Saddam killed by a bunch of leaders who deserve to be killed ten times more than he did. I never liked Saddam; in fact I always hated him as much as I could. I did admit that he did several good things to Iraqis but the fact that he wronged many people and killed many civilians made it impossible for me to think of forgiving him. But now, I feel that Saddam was the last thing left from the unity of Iraq. And I fear that his death might bring doom on Iraqis, and the end to Iraq as a united state.

Nibras Kazimi - Talisman Gate To all those who worked for this day and didn't get a chance to witness it, To all those who hoped for this day and didn't get a chance to share it, To all the victims of this horrible tyrant and his terrible thugs--may they face judgment too, To all the good people of the world who understand the evil that was the Saddam regime and wish the Iraqi people well today, You are all in my thoughts as I await the news of Saddam's hanging.

Chikitita - First Words, First Walk, First in Iraq Regardless of he is and what he did, I didn't like the thought of airing the process. It was not a matter of justice, had it been so, they should have waited for the pending cases. Anfal is not over yet; the merchants' case hasn't started. And from the video aired today, I realized it has more to do with revenge and score settling. Why did those masked men have to chant Moqtada's name, what has that thug got to do with it, is he any better, hasn't he perpetrated similar crimes against fellow Iraqis, who by the way are not necessarily Sunnis.

I'm afraid now that Saddam is a dead man I will no longer be able to crack jokes about him or call him Skham as I used to do. If he epitomized a closure of a bloody chapter, let's start a clean one at least.

Sooni - Just like always, to make one step forward we end with three steps backward! Showing Saddam's execution like a Shiite revenge will only deepen the gap we have now. I know the Iraqi government is weak and have a lot of troubles but I couldn't imagine that I would hear Muqtada's name in the execution room.

Anarki13 - Then Some! Saddam did some good things, but he did a lot of horrible things as well. And any murderer has to be punished accordingly. Saddam's execution, I really don't know if I should call it an end, or a beginning. I agree with his execution, but at the same moment I don't believe it will change anything. My family, friends and relatives feel the same. Again I say, the ONLY thing I hope to come out of this whole fiasco is for it to be a lesson to our current "Saddams".

Khalid Jarrar - Secrets in Baghdad My first problem: The trials should have gone all the way to the end before executing him. My second problem: The current government is by no means legitimate enough to trial Saddam. My fourth problem: the timing of the execution. My third problem is the effect of this execution on Iraq.

Iraqi Konfused Kid - While I think that Saddam deserves a thousand hangings, I completely disapprove of the way they have handled this - they chose a very bad timing for it, the holy Eid is a day of joy, of happiness, of forgiveness, people do not want to start their day by watching a man insulted a thousand times with a rope at his neck, true, I completely understand the fact that there are hundreds of families who are glad to see Saddam suffer and die like their sons and families did, but they are not all Iraqis, and they are not all people, and true, maybe Shiites would feel there might be a religious conrguence for this timing as it is harmonious with the vengeful nature of Shiite Islam, as hatred of tyranny and cruel avengance are major pillars in their sect, but with the confusion of Iraqis everywhere and growing tensions, such delicate matters should not be handled as bluntly as they were when all the other people watch these images accompanied by the whole lot of insults and curses, on such a holy peaceful occasion, the feeling they give you is one of complete injustice and being cruller than the man they are hanging.

AYS - Iraq at a Glance That's it, he has been executed, I hope it will help minimizing the violence in this burning country. But the disgusting part is after watching the cell phone video recording of his execution; it really made me sad for what is waiting for Iraq. It's clear that those executioners are fanatic Shiites, including the members of the current Iraqi government who witnessed the execution. I can tell that one of them, despite he is masked, (the one behind Saddam) keeps that thick Shiite beard and he was trying hardly to cover it! Then the witnesses chanted 'Long live Mohammed Baqir Al-Sadr' and 'grant victory to his son, Muqtada, Muqtada, Muqtada'!! Lovely! We get rid of a tyrant to glorify a retarded fat boy!

Raed Jarrar - Raed in the Middle Saddam was given the chance to look like the calm and brave leader who didn't fear death, and who claimed to love and defend Iraq and the Islamic nation until the last second. At the same time, his executers, hiding their faces, demonstrated themselves as vengeful thugs supported by the occupation and representing only their political party and sects.

It takes a lot of stupidity to lose moral authority to a former dictator with a noose around his neck. It takes a lot of stupidity to turn Saddam's execution to an event dividing Iraqis furthermore instead of uniting them. It takes a lot to turn Saddam from a former dictator to a symbol of resistance and pride. I can go as far as comparing this to how much stupidity and hard work John Kerry put into losing the elections to an inept president like Bush.

Zappy - Where Date Palms Grow So the First day of Eid Officially in Iraq was today. Clearly announcing that the government of Iraq does not represent Iraqi's but only Shia Iraqis and I tell you Shia Iraqis are not represented by these butchers.

Why was that? Simply because our democratic government was clarifying how biased they are, how sectarian they are, and finally how clearly they want to divide this country.

This biased country has done what Saddam used to do. What they also want to do is simply stick Saddam to Sunnism.

Fatima - Thoughts from Baghdad - On the subject of Saddam Hussein, I still can't believe that they hung him on the first day of Eid. Quite distasteful, quite blood-thirsty, very wrong. Like they're handing him over on a gold plate to one group of Iraqis, and completely throwing the plate in the faces of the others. Making Eid a double Eid for some, and a bloody Eid for the others. So wrong.