I have a hard time believing that ANYBODY would be rallying around Hussein - mind you, I’m not an Iraqi, so what do I know? I guess, though, that the thousands of families that lost members to his regime will be satisfied, particularly the Kurds.

Che Guevara was pretty much a waste of oxygen in operations he commanded in the Congo and Bolivia. Yet in death he became an icon, a symbol for repressed peoples. With the right spin, who knows what Hussein could become in death. I’d much rather they stuck him in a small cell for the rest of his days.

No reason for this to have any impact one way or another. The Shia/Sunni conflict isn’t about him. Then again people don’t always behave reasonably. That’s why I don’t make predictions about the future.

According to the news discussion I saw everything is really speculation, they don’t actually know what happens Candace.

They ‘believe’ that when the neck is snapped instant paralysis occurs so the body feels no pain.

The ‘theory’ is that the rope tightening around the neck cuts off all blood, and therefor oxygen, supply to the brain, and they ‘think’ that the brain, which is still very much alive and thinking when the trapdoor opens, goes into a state of shock and befuddlement so that the individual doesn’t know what is going on for the 2 minutes or so that it takes the brain to actually die of oxygen starvation.

The “traditional hood” (which is exactly how they described it) is so that people watching do not see the grimacing of pain they don’t believe is felt, the look of terror on the individuals face as they hang there for a couple of minutes or so, unable to move (if it’s done right) before the thinking portion of the brain shuts down on them, or the distasteful bulging of the eyes or turning blue of the face associated with strangulation for the 3 to 5 minutes or so it takes the heart to stop beating; the ‘instant and painless death’ as described by so many is apparently a myth.

… in other words you’re quite right Candace, the hood is for the benefit of the bystanders and lookers who apparently do not want to actually see the fruits of their labour, as opposed to the individual being executed.

SL: Funny how that works, everyone who “knows” is dead. Personally, I’m challenged by the unanimous reports of the instantaneous death of Saddam (to clarify, not by the death part). But I recall recently reading reports that the lethal injection plan isn’t so instantaneous either.

Jeez. With all the deaths occurring everywhere, you’d think that someone, somewhere, could figure out how to stage a state-sponsored death that resulted in a quick & humane death.

My understanding (purely second hand, of course, unlike some of my Irish ancestors) is that modern hanging is, in effect, decapitation: the spinal cord is instantly severed, producing instantaneous unconsciousness and relatively quick death. The ideal length of drop was refined over a century, and is adjusted now based on the victim’s weight.

Not a big fan of capital punishment under any circumstance myself.