Yes Richard, our cowardly political warriors will doubtless use the occasion to continue to spin their justification for the rape & destruction of one of the world's oldest civilizations, whilst publicly dancing on Saddam's grave.

And whilst we'll doubtless be treated to all the usual serious homilies about what an "evil" person Saddam was & how the world is a better place without him, I bet we still won't hear a murmur of acknowledgement, let alone regret, for the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who have been put to the sword, allegedly just to get Saddam to swing from a rope.

I never thought I'd live to see the day that an Australian Prime Minister would openly & proudly conspire to make our country a party to war crimes.

I never thought we'd have a Prime Minister, whose government would remain silent whilst our supposed "closest ally" would torture & imprison an Australian citizen, without charge or trial for more than 5 years.

I never thought that I'd be embarrassed to be an Australian; feeling obliged to cringe everytime our phoney prime minister & the rest of his callow accomplices in crime, opened their rotten mouths.

But reflecting on that, along with some of the recent comments made by al loomis, I'm beginning to wonder if the people of this country expect anything better: let alone deserve anything better?

that submitting to our masters is not necessarily survival-oriented, personal, national, or racial.

reporting this fact goes on constantly, in this site and endless others- useful but not by itself effective.

the 2nd step is to refuse to legitimize them. refusing to participate in their intra-guild supremacy struggle leaves them exposed as the gray little apparatchik inheritors of bandits, the norman warlords whose seats they contend for.

if you don't vote for them, you can compel democracy. the process of literally forcing parliament to legislate itself out of existance can not be quick, the members must have time to re-educate themselves in management and planning, the people must acquire some skills too, in organizing public opinion.

these things won't happen if initial steps are not taken. i believe the blank ballot/cir-now plan might do it, 'it' being just the 1st step, useful as a rally point, a binding force of would-be citizens.

and yes, yer average ozzie might not run to save david hicks. but don't imagine apathy is genetic. i have seen this apathy before, when i was growing up in the american south before the civil rights movement. african americans then, having zero power very sensibly wasted zero time on informing themselves. with access to voting, most changed, some a lot. plenty of counties in the deep south now have black sheriffs, no doubt just as crooked as the rednecks they replaced. still, progress.

that will happen here, if we can put a lever of power in the hands of ordinary ozzies, many will quickly pay attention to what they can do with it.

trusting to the collective good will and good sense of the electorate might seem difficult, until you look around you and see the alternative. and that's just history. the future looks much worse, because of resources crunch.

The British Foreign Secretary says that while her country doesn't approve of capital punishment she respects Iraq's right as a sovereign nation to hang Saddam.

Sovereign right? We didn't hear much of that sort of thing when we invaded Iraq to get Saddam. We paid a private propaganda contractor, the Rendon Group, to create the Iraqi National Congress to invite us to invade. But we gave the existant Government Of Iraq no sovereign rights whatsoever.

The execution was witnessed by BBC's Foreign News editor. Saddam died by hanging, his earlier request for a firing squad having been disallowed as it would've given him too much status. No doubt the evil dicator dancing the Gallows Jig made for a much more graphic video.

 So much for crystal ball gazing. Saddam would have been do-si-doing the noose just as I was writing.  That might explain the nausea.

‘Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, who rose from humble beginnings to build the Arab world's most ruthless dictatorship but whose fall unleashed a turbulent era for his nation and the world, was executed early Saturday morning in Baghdad, according to Iraqi state television.

Hussein, 69, who demanded a cultlike devotion from his people and built monuments to proclaim his own greatness, was hung around 6 a.m. local time (10 p.m. Friday EST) in the American-controlled Green Zone in central Baghdad. Hussein was executed before a small group of observers, including some who had been tortured by his regime.

"Criminal Saddam was hanged to death," state-run Iraqiya television said in an announcement. The station played patriotic music and showed images of national monuments and other landmarks.

The execution took place three days after Iraq's highest court upheld Hussein's death sentence, a decision that meant the execution should take place within 30 days. Last month Hussein was found guilty of crimes against humanity for the killings of 148 Shiite men and boys from the northern town of Dujail after an attempt on his life in 1982.

Many human rights groups criticized the trial as unfair, delivering nothing more than victor's justice, a charge Iraqi officials denied.

Also hanged on Saturday morning were Hussein's half-brother Barzan Ibrahim and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, the former chief justice of the Revolutionary Court.

Lawyers for Bandar, made a similar request in federal court on Thursday, but their motion was denied, the Associated Press reported. Bandar was also executed Saturday morning. The Justice Department argued in that case that U.S. courts have no jurisdiction to interfere with the judicial process of another country.’

Saddam: The End

Notwithstanding claims to the contrary by Iraqi officials & the White House, Saddam Hussein was held by US authorities until the very moment of the execution, which took place in the US military-controlled Green Zone in Baghdad.

Hussein's lawyers filed a last minute petition on Friday in US District Court in Washington, seeking a temporary stay of his execution. The motion sought a stay of execution based on the fact that he was a defendant in a civil action in federal court. The US Justice Department argued in that case that US courts have no jurisdiction to interfere with the judicial process of another country!!

You’ve just gotta luuve that yankee system of justice.

On the one hand, the jughead in the outhouse can mount an illegal war of aggression against another sovereign nation, based on deliberately contrived falsehoods; occupy & kill more than 650,000 of its civilian citizenry; expropriate its natural resources; install a puppet government & mount a show trial of its former leaders that Stalin would have been proud of, whilst on the other, claiming US courts have no right to interfere with ”the judicial process of another country”.

Since when?

[From the Whitehouse]

  send greetings to Muslims in the United States and around the world as you celebrate the Eid al-Adha holiday.

The Qur'an teaches that the sacred feast of Eid al-Adha is a time for Muslims to join family and friends in thanking the Almighty for His many blessings and to reflect on the great sacrifice and devotion of Abraham. During this festive celebration, peace-loving people around the world, including millions of American Muslims, honor Abraham's example by sharing love and demonstrating compassion for those in need.

This year's celebration comes at a time when our world faces great challenges and important opportunities. The United States remains committed to promoting justice, tolerance, and understanding through-out the world, and we will continue to work together with our Muslim friends and people of all faiths to build a future of peace, freedom, and opportunity for all.

Laura joins me in sending our best wishes for a joyous celebration.

GEORGE W. BUSH

[Just in]

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

Today, Saddam Hussein was executed after receiving a fair trial -- the kind of justice he denied the victims of his brutal regime.

Fair trials were unimaginable under Saddam Hussein's tyrannical rule. It is a testament to the Iraqi people's resolve to move forward after decades of oppression that, despite his terrible crimes against his own people, Saddam Hussein received a fair trial. This would not have been possible without the Iraqi people's determination to create a society governed by the rule of law.

Saddam Hussein's execution comes at the end of a difficult year for the Iraqi people and for our troops. Bringing Saddam Hussein to justice will not end the violence in Iraq, but it is an important milestone on Iraq's course to becoming a democracy that can govern, sustain, and defend itself, and be an ally in the War on Terror.

We are reminded today of how far the Iraqi people have come since the end of Saddam Hussein's rule - and that the progress they have made would not have been possible without the continued service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform.

Many difficult choices and further sacrifices lie ahead. Yet the safety and security of the American people require that we not relent in ensuring that Iraq's young democracy continues to progress.

 

 [From Toad Hall]

The execution of Saddam Hussein is a significant moment in Iraq's history.  He has been brought to justice, following a process of fair trial and appeal, something he denied to countless thousands of victims of his regime. 

The people of Iraq now know that their brutal dictator will never come back to lead them.  While many will continue to grieve over their personal loss under his rule, his death marks an important step in consigning his tyrannical regime to the judgement of history and pursuing a process of reconciliation now and in the future.  

Saddam and two of his former officials were found guilty and sentenced to death by the Iraqi Higher Tribunal on 5 November of crimes against humanity for the orchestration of the execution of 148 men and boys in the village of Dujail nearly 25 years ago.  It is a credit to the people of Iraq that he was provided a fair trial, which lasted over a year, for this, and the gruesome other crimes for which he and his regime were responsible. 

It was because of Saddam's flagrant defiance of UN Security Council resolutions that we took action against him, drawing attention also to the evil nature of his rule.  Notwithstanding the challenges involved in securing the future of Iraq, today's Iraq is ruled by an elected government, under a democratic and constitutional order. 

No matter what one might think about the death penalty, and the Government of Iraq is aware of the Australian Government's position on capital punishment, we must also respect the right of sovereign states to pass judgement relating to crimes committed against their people, within their jurisdictions. 

The Australian Government, together with our coalition allies, will continue to support the stuggle of the vast majority of Iraq's people to preserve and build upon the progress which has been achieved, where even the cruellest of dictators can be tried and brought to justice