OK, but it is too bad they didn't hang George W. Bush and Tony Blair right their beside him.

Certainly the execution of Saddam Hussein was a milestone of sorts and provided some degree of closure, but the Iraq conflict has been a process of several years and this isn't all that significant as specific events go. Many have criticized the handling of the execution for good reason, but why these objections have been directed at the U.S. remains a mystery to me. As I understand it, the Americans provided most if not all of the security for the trial, but the trial and execution were handled by the local Iraqi authorities as far as I'm aware. This may suggest that the Iraqi government and judicial process may not be ready for primetime, but I can't see how the Americans are at fault.

"To me, watching that execution was like watching Planet of the Apes: a bunch of de-evolved primates killing the last man. Saddam looked like the 20th century in that overcoat and hat. He'd lost weight in prison. Never flinched, not once. You try that: going to the gallows with your blood enemies screaming insults at you. See if you can hold your bladder, never mind answer back as fast and calm as he did. The 20th was a good century, bloody and unbowed, as the man said. We're going to miss it when it's gone. It's hanging on in places here and there at the edge of the office world, but we're doing our best to finish it off-and that hanging was a big step in that wrong direction....." -Gary Brecher

I would think Saddam's execution had less to do with his murder(s) of citizens than it did with preventing him from becoming a living symbol for his followers to rally around. I believe that was Lenin's justification in 1918 for having the Russian Royal Family killed. Ok, he's dead...good riddance to bad rubbish. Now what?

I'm glad you commented on that aspect GTH. I read the Economist's account of the execution, and it sounded like a disaster. The executioners came off looking like a lynch mob, and Saddam maintained his poise and dignity to the end. In fairness to the decision makers, it just wouldn't have been that simple to let Saddam off with life in prison. Clemency doesn't play very well in that part of the world, and there was an expectation of some final closure. That being said, the execution was botched, and yet another battle for hearts and minds lost. The images of Abu Ghraib plus the little cell phone recording of the execution could haunt the West for centuries.

Good review Genghis, and I 100% agree with you. I hate giving that bastard any credit at all, but he did die with his boots on, I'll give him that. As cruel as it sounds, the world would have been better off if the soldiers that found had shot him on the spot, threw him back in the hole, and buried him. His death can only strengthen their resolve. Big mistake.

I am sure that many of you have gone to the internet to watch the execution of Saddam Hussein. I never bothered until I heard Chris Mathews the other night state how manly was Saddam at his execution. I checked it out as well as some accounts of the execution as well as commentary.

Saddam thanked all the American soldiers who guarded him and then entered the execution chamber with dignity. He defied the Shiite thugs who were taunting him and died like a man.

Congratulations, Bush and the USA. You managed to turn a hated Stalinist thug into a Sunnite martyr! The theme is now that he stood against American imperialism and Shiite vengefulness.

A little search on the 'net reveals that he is now beloved in a great, many parts of the Middle East.

Why couldn't we have exiled him to some St. Helena as did the Brits with Napoleon after 1815 and end of the Napoleonic Wars? He would have soon been forgotten or remembered with loathing.

The Brits made the same mistake, as we just did, after the Irish Easter Rising of 1916. They executed the leaders of the Rising making them martyrs. Had they imprisoned them, the leaders would today be a footnote in history. Most of the Irish People rejected the Rising until the executions occurred. That event caused a "sea change" in Irish sentiment, and British rule became doomed.

Read some history, and reflect on it, oh our leadership!

GenghisTheHun makes this prediction. This was a bad mistake.

I'd give 5 stars if Bush had been standing on the trap door next to Saddam... Your're WRONG! I have every right to disrespect this president. This idiot is ruining the country, lied to congress, the American people, and destroyed our standing and respect in the eyes of the world. He has turn this country into a 3rd world banana republic. No I don't respect him. Washington and the other great presidents are turning in their graves for what he has done to the offiice!

This was definitly a significant event in the war in Iraq. However it is still going to be a while before everything is settled over there. And to Blue47 I don't care who you are, but it is extremely disrespectful to talk that way about our president. No matter what he has done, or how little respect you may have in him, you under no circumstances have the right to degrade the President of the U.S. For the record, I too disagree with some of the things he has done, but I would never speak so disrespectfully of him. Ending Note, I am extremely glad that Suddam has died and hope that the war will start to look up in the near future.

They should have let him rot in jail

Certainly significant, but it will not be the beginning of a quick fix to Iraq. He will be a symbol of tyranny justly deposed to many, and a martyr to others. It will be a long road with many turnings and roadblocks and potholes for Iraq, and this event is one more signpost on the way to wherever the destination is.

Might have been more significant a year or two ago, but everybody in Iraq has much more on their minds at this point.

As a political event, it's an opportunity for all who have given up on the war in Iraq to scold and "I told you so. " As an international event, it sends a chilling message to despots and dictators around the world about the risk of megalomania. Too bad we couldn't have pursued a similar course against Hitler in 1937. Pol Pot, Idi Amin, Papa Doc Duvalier, Mogadishu, Darfur, the list is long. But . . . nobody thinks like that. Do they? To me, Saddam was little more than a bully who bullied his way (through torture and manipulation) to the level of political head of state. When you are under his thumb, you are certain that nobody is strong enough to stop him. The last loud-mouthed bully I remember being stopped on the international stage was Moammar Khadaffi of Lybia. Anyway, justice has been served, the Iraqi people have jumped another hurdle on their way to independence. Unfortunately, for the American people, it will take longer than two an a half hours and fit neatly into four quarters. It's usually a long, arduous road to independence, try to be patient.