`Saddam, on his part, did not forget the Palestinians also during his last moments. Just before the rope was wrapped around his neck, he shouted, - "Allah is great. Long live the Iraqi nation. Palestine is Arab." http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=863ce7d4a3 Is that what YOU heard?

Executing Saddam on the first day of "our" Eid is a public service to all humanity, althought a few of his admires don't thing this is the case. No Eid ever stopped Saddam from killing, gasing, torturing, assasinating and yes executing. Saddam will never be a hero after he showed his cowardice by hiding in a rat hole and then want to "negotiate" when he was found. Arabs have very strict code of conduct for their leaders which include honor, chivalry, bravery and courage. Saddam never had any of these attributes. Go figure.

I'll give you one guess - the same thing he did to Kurds. He would murder them by the hundred thousand if they started an intifada against him. Just shows what you need to do to win respect from Arabs.

That's the fate of those who mess with the people of Israel. Read the Bible

Elvis may well be in a better place. Saddam is just in a more appropriate place. It may seem nit picky but I hope Elvis is in a much higher place than Saddam.

and gave Saddam his #" Don't Be Cruel"

says Saddam Hussein in his Last Famous Words and one would have thought he knew better. How truly iliterate might he have been then?... or was it simply 'wishful thinking'?

Saddam was a criminal?? of course he was..I don't need anyone to recount Saddam's crimes to me!! who doesn't know Saddam's crimes against humanity?? but Eid is a period of blessings and peace to ALL humanity.. it should not become an execution day!! you don't celebrate religious occassions by hanging someone!! and Mike #17.. no, I don't think killing Israeli civilians whether during holidays or not as noble!! it's another crime! I don't know how some of you insist that those who decided to hang him on that day were Iraqis.. this court as a whole is illegitimate because it was set up while under occupation and in very irregular circumstances!! even his defence lawyers were threatened.. so naturally this court is an invalid one and is directed by the US occupation.. since it is the one in control now in Iraq.. Persian CAT, when Saddam gassed the Iranians, the chemicals he used were provided to him by his American allies at that time.. why didn't we hear anyone calling for justice against those who were in responsible at that time??? why didn't the hearings continue to bring up his other crimes?? why did they stop at Dugail?? Happy Eid and Happy New Year to all..

Hey Lynne. Don't worry, I was definitely not offended - you are always very polite to me. :) Regarding Saddam, I concede that his trial had many kangaroo court elements (at the very least, the fact that he was only on trial for his acts in one town, with not even one word regarding his appalling massacres of Iraqi Kurds). However, I don't know how the US could have prevented such an execution, and thus, I don't think they can be held responsible for it. I think Bush was incorrect in being glad about the execution, since I agree that it turned Saddam from a monster into a martyr, especially taking place on Eid. Regarding political vs. military wings of groups in the PA: Your answer works when people are either in one or the other, but it becomes tricky when there are parliament members involved in the military wing. I realize that it causes further chaos in the government to attack Parliament members, but it also kind of seems like they're getting a free card to be a militant just because they ran for office. It's still problematic. Also, I think it would be problematic to have the military wing of Hamas become the military because it would remove any power from opposing political groups, who, based on December violence between Fatah and Hamas, would probably be heavily targeted with no way of defending themselves. Basically, I think forming a Hamas-focused military would change the situation from one of civil strife to one of one-sided massacre of non-Hamas entities. This would be especially bad considering that Fatah's formal stance is much less extreme than Hamas and they would be taking most of the hits. Democratic elections: I'm not against ALL revolutions, but I do oppose them when the democratic government is still operating within the confines of democractic parameters. With Hamas, given their ongoing violence even against their own people, I believe that they are not acting democratically at all. Thus, removing them can be considered a legitimate move. In contrast, the Olmert government, for example, is still behaving within the technical parameters of their jurisdiction as a democratic government. So, even though I would LOVE (love, love, love, love, love) to have a different prime minister, at this juncture, I strenuously oppose a revolution - even a bloodless one - because that's not how democracy works. Instead, I think the opposition should be more strident and the people should speak up to voice their support of this opposition, which would encourage the government to vote in a certain way, in order to get reelected. The Siniora gov't, like the Olmert's gov't is not currently representative of the popular opinion, but, again, I think that happens during non-election years. Thus, I think the Lebanese people should wait until the next elections to change the relative representation of Lebanese people amongst the gov't.

I can't wait for the day Bush,Blair and Sharon are held to account for their crimes against Humanity! Long live the Palestinians!

Arafat is dead Zarqawi is dead Saddam is dead G-d is great.

Noa, I'm usually polite with you because I respect you.. even though we might not agree on many things I still think you're very sensible and you try to be objective :) .. yes Noa, that's the point Saddam is no longer a criminal even the eyes of those he made suffer.. he is now a hero!! and a martyr who was hanged for resisting occupation.. how could the US have prevented this?? first of all.. Saddam was arrested by US troops.. second, this court and government as a whole are not indepentant from the US occupation.. third, Saddam was in US custody since he was captured and he was only transfered to Iraqi authorities as a final step for having him hanged.. and a US judge was refused stopping Saddam's execution.. regarding Fatah and Hamas- I don't think that if the military wing of Hamas became an official army it will cause any threat towards Fatah.. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades also belong to FATAH so if both military wings unite as an official army I don't think any party will be threatened.. what I'm asking for might be difficult to achieve on ground but that's how I see Palestinians could solve their internal problems... by unity.. what do you think should be done about Hamas? do you see that kidnapping the Parliament memebers and attacking Palestinians every now and then will solve this conflict?? I don't think you do.. Revolutions-- I understand from this that you were against the Cedar Revolution that caused the government of Karami to resign?? Hamas are not the only ones using violence against Palestinians.. Fatah is also using violence so it's only fair in that case that they have not only early government elections but also early presidential elections.. since Fatah tried to assassinate Haniyeh himself when he tried to enter Gaza about two weeks ago.. and this is definitely illegal!!

Regarding Saddam, fair point about the US judge. On the other hand, if the US had intervened to stop the execution, don't you think that would have offended other Iraqis? I mean, that too is an involvement in Iraqi legal procedure and, thus, definitely a sign of trying to control Iraq. Regarding Hamas and Fatah, if they would unite and form one military, with the exclusion of all other militias, I think this would be a HUGE step. (Think: No more Islamic Jihad. One armed force with actual accountability and a real point of contact in the event of armed conflict.) In Israel, this is what happened with the former militias, after the former Haganah and former Irgun (both divisions in the newly formed IDF) almost got into a gun battle over an arms transport, but Begin refused to fire back on the former Haganah members in order to prevent a civil war and thus conceded subordination to the IDF, even though it put his group at a disadvantage. The problem with unifying is that someone has to agree with giving up the post of top dog and, given the nature of the current Hamas-Fatah power struggle, I really don't see that actually happening. Additionally, perhaps I'm being cynical, but I think many Palestinian politicians (particularly from Hamas) LIKE the division between militias because they can launch attacks at Israel and then hide behind the phrase 'but it wasn't us; we have no control over these guys'. Basically, I'm saying this is the ideal solution, but I just don't see it happening. That's actually my frustration with the ME situation most of the time: most of the theoretical solutions can't actually be implemented because of the reality on the ground and the constant sabotage by the extremists. Regarding the Cedar Revolution, from what I know, many people accused Karami of being actively involved in the Rafik Hariri assassination - ie he helped assassinate a member of the political opposition, which is CERTAINLY not within the parameters of a true democratic government (and that's not even touching on the Syrian puppet-like aspects of his governments, which are also antithetical to the principles of sovereignty in a democratic nation, being accountable to the Lebanese instead of the Syrians, etc.). As I mentioned, I think it's less of a prolem to revolt against a government that isn't actually democratic. As such, the Cedar Revolution would seem to be legitimate. I haven't read that much about the Cedar Revolution or Karami government, though, so take that with a grain of salt.

Saddam-- the US is already involved in everything in Iraq.. because it is an occupying force.. so the Iraqi government is a puppet government and this is proven by US laws.. paragraph 366 of U.S. Army Field Manual 27-10 (1956): 366. Local Governments Under Duress and Puppet Governments The restrictions placed upon the authority of a belligerent government cannot be avoided by a system of using a puppet government, central or local, to carry out acts which would be unlawful if performed directly by the occupant. Acts induced or compelled by the occupant are nonetheless its acts. the US already controls Iraq and this is not something the US denies.. the US had given itself the right to ignore the Internatioinal opinion in the war on Iraq and to topple the Iraqi government would it not give itself the right to execute the leader whose government it had toppled?? Hamas-- I'm glad we agree on this.. I see this as the solution to the Palestinian internal conflict.. eventually they should unite or else they should both be excluded from government and boycotted by Palestinians and the world.. until they stop fighting.. but Hamas never hides or says that that they have no power over those who launch attacks on Israel.. what I see is that they take pride in attacking Israel (as far as I know).. yes, this frustrates me too with the ME situation.. there are many solutions but no side is willing to give concessions.. Cedar Revolution-- Karami's government was accused by the anti-Syrian MEDIA to have participated in the Harriri assassination.. there was no proof whatsoever to that.. it was a propaganda launched by 14th February party since they were aiming to get into government.. so until now there not one piece of evidence that Karami's government was involved in the assassination.. accusations against Karami's government were only part of a media war launched by Saad Harriri.. now Seniora's government is also regarded as a dictator government.. so I see both revolutions being the same but with different leaders.. so those who supported the Cedar Revolution for the sake of democracy should support the current revolutoin for the same reason..

Regarding Iraq, I'm not really sure what you're trying to say because the US doesn't consider death penalty to be unlawful. Thus, having the Iraqi government, even if it's a complete puppet government, carry out the death penalty, wouldn't be unlawful. As such, they have less jurisdiction to restrain the acts of the local government, which is, I believe, the reason the US judge was told that he couldn't override the execution order. Good point about Hamas taking pride in its acts. However, at times, the political leaders act as if their hands are tied in order to pretend that they are far removed from the military wing operations. Which is, in fact, false. Also, I feel as if some of the Fatah leaders do this, also, which is really frustrating, given that they are supposed to be the moderates. Hmm, Karami's lack of proven involvement makes it harder for me to justify the revolution, although, they did have the whole puppet government problem, which, de facto, makes them not a democracy (since they're not accountable to their own people). In contrast, from what I understand about the Siniora gov't, when they were elected, they did receive a majority and they did receive that majority fairly. As such, just because they have less support now among the populace does not make them a dictatorship. As I said, I am not as familiar with the Lebanon situation as you are, but to me, it just seems that the Siniora government is very unpopular with a particular subset of the Lebanese population, and consequently that population likes to throw around the word 'dictatorship' whenever they dislike the gov't's policies. I would be very interested to know the grounds on which you regard the Siniora gov't as a dictatorship.