Christmas just happenned and the New Year is approaching, so many of us are still in the holiday mood.
Not sure how up to date this world around us, but today, Saddam was hung tonight. Here are some comments for you to ponder a little. I hate to end the year with such a note, I will write something uplifting the next few days.
Comments on the death penalty for Saddam
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"Our respect for human rights requires us to execute him, and there will be no review or delay in carrying out the sentence." - Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
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Saddam's execution punishes "a crime with another crime. ... The death penalty is not a natural death. And no one can give death, not even the state." - Cardinal Renato Martino, Pope Benedict XVI's top prelate for justice issues.
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"Today marks an important milestone in the Iraqi people's efforts to replace the rule of a tyrant with the rule of law." - deputy White House press secretary Scott Stanzel, on day appeals court upheld death penalty.
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"Imposing the death penalty, which is indefensible in any case, is especially wrong after the unfair proceedings of the Dujail trial." - Richard Dicker, director of the International Justice Program for Human Rights Watch.
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"Saddam is paying the price for murdering tens of thousands of Iraqis. This is an unprecedented feeling of happiness. ... Nothing matches it, no festival or marriage or birth." - Abu Sinan, a resident of Sadr City, Baghdad's impoverished Shiite slum.
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"This is an unfair verdict and if Saddam is executed or not ... he will remain a symbol and no one can delete it, neither the Iraqi government nor the Americans." - Muhssin Ali Mohammed of Tikrit, Saddam's hometown.
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"As long as he's alive, there's still some power and people still rise up. Once the execution goes through, I think it will be a relief for a lot of Iraqis." - Sgt. Stuart Fowler, Company A, 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment.
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"I think personally that things might get heated up around here then. There's still a lot of people who support him." - Pfc. Michael Petersen, Company A, 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment.
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"We are against the death penalty. However, what I think is important about this is to recognize that this trial of Saddam has been handled by the Iraqis themselves. ... It does give us a very clear reminder of the total and barbaric brutality of that regime." - British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
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"All sections of Iraqi society, as well as the wider international community, have an interest in ensuring that a death sentence provided for in Iraqi law is only imposed following a trial and appeal process that is, and is legitimately seen as, fair, credible and impartial." - Louise Arbour, U.N. high commissioner for human rights.
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"It will not increase our moral authority in the world. ... Saddam's heinous crimes against humanity can never be diminished, but he was our ally while he was doing it. ... Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth will make us blind and disfigured. ... Saddam as a war trophy only deepens the catastrophe to which we are indelibly linked." - the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
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"Putting into action such an inhumane sentence casts aside the aspirations of the Iraqi people for the transformation of their country." - Ravil Gainutdin, head of the Russian Council of Muftis, to the RIA-Novosti news agency.
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