Saddam's Execution
Saddam before his execution
On December 30th, 2006, an end of an era arrived in Iraq as Saddam Hussein, long-time dictator, was hanged before an ecstatic and cheering crowd. Hussein had been deposed some time ago, during the 2003 invasion. He had been sentenced to death a little over a month before his execution was carried out, on November 5th, after the end of his trial in late July, where he had been tried for crimes against humanity. This followed his murder of 140 Shiite in the town of Dujail in 1982, which is established to have been in retaliation for an assassination attempt against him. The day of his death, in the Shiite enclave of Shadr City, people were literally dancing in the streets, thronging about and celebrating the end of their hated dictator. However elsewhere, Sunni loyalties were face with losing their figurehead and a good deal of their influence, disheartened by his execution. Saddam himself merely ate his last meal and prayed, reading verses from the Qur’an. He was executed at a joint Iraqi-American military base known as Camp Justice, at 6:00 local time. As he waited on the gallows, the crowd heckled and jeered at him, some yelling insults, others prayers—though these were versions of prayers which were intended to be sectarian insults against Hussein, a Sunni. His neck was apparently broken by the rope, with “an audible snap”. Few were satisfied with his death; many wished for him to have been brought to trial for other alleged offenses against the human race, and some did not think he should have been killed at all. The country of Iraq remained largely divided, and sectarian violence continued.
