Great article. A very sound opinion. Every american should read it.

i very much agree, in no way do i try to justify what saddam did. he was a horrible person, but his death was immoral. you cannot judge someone enough to decide their faith. thats immoral and also embarrasing for americans.

Your article was one of the most resfreshing and unbiased articles I have read on Saddam and the whole situation. Your last sentence hit the spot and that's the real issue. Thank you very much for seeing above all the dust.

Your article stated correctly that this was a monkey trial. Sadam should have been put on trial by the UN only.# His excecution was a big mistake and will only be the reason for more violence.

Who Tried - convicted and hung Saddam - if it wasn't the Iraqi people? The immorality on the streets in Iraq today are the RESULT of Saddam's cruel and crazy regime. Blaming it on the Americans or Iranians is just plain stupid. Had Saddam any will or desire to build the country up? To allow for the development of humanity? No. If it didn't directly benefit him - he had no interest. Of course it feels better to blame someone else. But it doesn't get better till you face the truth. I do hope Palestinian leadership will learn from this terrible lesson.

On my life I never thought I would agree with Tibi on anything, (I dislike the man and he should never sit in the Knesset)..but I also feel the only regime they knew in Iraq is the hard one Saddam held them under. He the devil incarnate and hanging was too good for him. But what has happened there now is a disaster and probably more people dying each day and more will, and may end up a larger list then saddams vicious killings. But now its not just Iraqis, its so many others and is the oil worth it! BTW Tibi, I would be happy to help you pack up if you ever decide to move to gza or anywhere else away from Israel!

Well said

What is wrong with the people there who are murdering, raping and pillaging Iraq. Why do you want to blame the west on that horrible state of anarchy lack of personnal morals. Saddam was a threat to the entire middle east and even to his own people. He had to go.

arabs can kill arabs all day long and it is no problem at all (notice the ONLY condemnation from arabs when arab terrorists kill arab civilians in iraq is if america is blamed). but if someone as horrible as saddam is put to death by whatever court, because america was involved, it is an unforgivable immoral crime that there are no words enough to describe the atrocity. pathetic.

immoral? i see. i would bet if your family had been gased or exterminated by this dictator you wouldn't feel the death so immoral. but you have also forgotten what the sting of his hatred felt like.

As I read all the news reports of how horrible Saddam was I can't help but think that you never heard about all the violence that is going on currently in Iraq . When he was in power Iraq did seem more stable and it amazes me that my own president still thinks he is doing a good job. It amazes me more everyday how he parades around thinking he is the best president because he did what his father couldn't. This attack on Iraq was more of a power trip then that of a attack against terrorism.

Well despite all his murderous deeds, he showed exemplary bravery at the end and went out in great style with a load of insults !

I'll start from the end. First of - Bush probably was seeking a scapegoat, but Ahmad Tibi would probably prefer Bush to US foreign policy as a scapegoat rather than a group of twenty murderous Muslim radicals who killed over three thousand people. They were just fighting the occupation, eh, Tibi? I will agree on the timing problem, but not because timing was to offend Muslims - saying that is just stupid - because if I'd be a Christian, I would throw my tree away and wouldn't touch New Year meal because it would remind me of a face of the old murderer. Saddam's killing isn't an immoral act. He murdered thousands. I'm against death penalty - because it's too lenient towards the accused. Saddam should've been locked in a cage for the rest of his life. However, it is a useless act (just like I wrote here: http://tacticalsniper.blogspot.com/2006/12/well-finally-it-had-happened.html). It was pointless and looked like revenge, and will not help anyone. New terrorist groups will make him a "martyr" and fight in his name. Just pointless. Saying that Americans brought the chaos now in Iraq is insane. If the country of Iraq is that divided it's because it was divided in the first place, and the American invasion just let the Gennie out of the bottle. It was only a matter of time.

As in all wars; it's about the wealth, whatever its form; in this case, oil.

You forget to mention the fact that under Saddam's regime, the Shiite Muslims in the country suffered. Having been to Iraq and talked with the Iraqis instead of just forming an opinion first, I believe I am justified in saying this. I also just recently heard that the violence in Iraq now is still less than what was happening during Saddam's era. Innocent people were being killed under his reign. I saw several of his palaces, including the most immaculate built with the "oil for food money." None of the money for food was spent on food. It was spent on italian marble and gold toilet seats. Before his death, Saddam pleaded with the US to not give him to Iraqi custody... what do you have to say about that. New countries and governments are not created in months...it takes time.

Thanks Bagdad Bob...your ability to distort facts to fit your view is indeed skillful and amusing.

Saddam was an animal with no regard for human life. Killing him was no worse than removing a malignant tumor from an otherwise healthy individual.

When passing judgement on Saddam Hussein's execution we must MAINLY relate to the arguments as supported by facts presented to the ruling body.

You mention Saddam was a cruel dictator. Oh... so much more than that. A murderer of 100's of thousands. Which is the greater evil. hundreds of thousands of iraqi's, kurds, and even other countries....kuwaitis being killed. Or this current time of instability in Iraq to bring about a major change? All I ask is that you think of Germany and Japan who also had a hard process of moving from dictators, oppression, murder, oppression to freedom and democracy. Would you be one who was speaking so down about the fall of Hitler if you were not a Jew? Yet not being an oppressed Iraqi it is so easy for you to pass judgement on the US for freeing the Iraqi's. Maybe you need to put yourself in the shoes of one of the hundres of thousands who lost their fathers, mothers, children, etc... from the tyrannical, murdering dictator Saddam. He was quickly executed and the terror and fear with which he reigned over his people he will surely reap in hell. For what a man sows, he will surely reap.

I cannot believe this crap was worthy of news ink. This man is a completely retarded or has a brain tumor. It is crap like this that makes me believe that a war againist Muslin jihadists is justified. If I did not know better It seems this would have been an article written during Nazi Germany's reign of terror. I guess a dictator who kills two million people without due process or reason deserves respect and honour because the country is strong. Everyday I am happier that I live in America and that idiots like Mr Tibi do not

Tibi said "Iraq during Saddam's rule was stable, powerful, and flourished both economically and scientifically, despite the prominent shortcomings and serious sins associated with Saddam and his people." So Hitler was a good guy too right? invaded other countries, killed minorities that even his neighbors disliked, and made scientific progress (in WMDs). I still can't believe how people will support a homicidal dictator like Saddam in order to justify their own political agenda. As for Iraq considering how screwed up it was (unless you were Baathist), change incurs sacrifices. I would point out that the Kurdish sections are more peaceful than they have been in decades. /And yes I can Godwin a thread since I have known Mike back in college at UT.

Putting Saddam to death really proved nothing. Most people I know think it would have been better to have keep him alive and in prison for his remaining years. The brutal dictator should have been used in a way to have helped those that he harmed. As far as President Bush is concerned, he did the right thing to invade Iraq. I don't believe we were lied to by Bush, history will prove his leadership has detered another Hitler style world war. The best thing to do in Iraq would be to divide the nation into Three seperate States, united as one nation.

I have always felt that Saddam is an extreme and criminal manifestation of a dysfunctional Iraq. My hope was that the way of dealing with him would be the beginning of a new and healthier path for Iraq and for other countries in the region. None of that is achievable by the paths taken so far, by the Americans or the 'new regime' in Iraq. Executing Saddam on a Holy Day, without going through many more issues that could have helped the healing process, was immature at best and very cynical at worst. Your final statement that both Bush and Ahmadinejad are both glee about this, indeed, says it all. No one is safer for the future based on events so far. Safety of Iraq as part of being on the right path was also a guarantor of the safety of the region and of Israel. No indication so far for such a path having started.

and it was, like its leader, a part of the problem and not a part of the peace process. The fact that the monster murdered thousands and paid rewards to the families to the homicide bombers murdering thousands of Israelis, the author’s countrymen and women, does seem to bother the author. Sadam's Iraq attacked Israel during the first Gulf war and supported terrorism around the world. Is this Israeli lawmaker an Israeli first, last or never? I am being continuously amazed by the total lack of morality in the Arabs; they seem to live in a parallel universe where all moral red lines do not exist exists.

YOU MY FRIEND, ARE AN IDIOT. PERHAPS YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE INTERESTED IN HAVING HIM HANG HAD ANY OF YOUR RELATIVES BEEN KILLED UNDER HIS AUTHORITY. YOUR BLLEDING LIBERAL HEART FALLS ON DEAF EARS. THE FAMILIES OF THOSE MURDERED AT SADDAMS HANDS WERE FINALLY VINDICATED BY A ROPE

This article is a sham... The first paragraph says that everything was fine and dandy during his rule. Lest we forget he was responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths in his country. That doesn't sound like floursishing to me. His death was justified. My only regret was that he didn't suffer as many of his people did.