I do not care of capital punishment is or is not a deterrent - I suspect it is not - no, I go further, it is not a deterrent - revenge is for fools and those who enjoy killing.

“There are no redeeming aspects to capital punishment. It is always brutal. More importantly, it does not deter crime.”

It will deter Sadaam Hussien from committing any more offenses.

RE “Amnesty International revealed that the homicide rate in US states with the death penalty has been 48 to 101 per cent higher than in states without the death penalty”

Oh that is a Furphy. Homicide rates could equally be influenced by demographic factors, such as the mix of ethnic origins.

A state in the North East USA, which may not have a death Penalty, will have its origins and ethnic balance steeped in English Puritanism. Texas, on the other hand, with the death penalty, has a far different ethnic mix.

The idea that “bad people should not be punished because good people do not do that sort of thing” is a cop out.

“Bad people” should anticipate being punished and those who commit the ultimate in offences should expect to receive the ultimate in punishment.

Meredith Jones – “children always respond better to explanation and reason”

Yep, I made sure I told my daughters why they were being spanked. The eldest told me, more recently when aged 24, she knew she deserved it, then gave me a hug

Last Saturday morning I suppose the Sunnis and Shia all laid down their weapons and hugged each other, promising that there will now be peace. Saddam may have been a foul person ( armed and encouraged by the USA of course ) but following the logic that a nasty dictator has been removed will we see the COW invading Zimbabwe, North Korea, Nigeria, Myanmar and a host of others on a crusade to rid the world of nasties. Naturally, with their own weapons of mass destruction.

By the way runner, Singapore, roughly the size of Melbourne is a place where someone is executed about every ten days. I'll let you make your own mind up as to whether they have a serious crime problem or not.

Unfortunately for us forced to be Bush, Blair and Howard backers, going by the video clips looks like Saddam died with surprising dignity, evidently knowing that the three noted above were in a hurry to have him hanged before the real truth of the Post WW2 Middle East matter came out.

How Saddam was backed by Ronald Reagan for the Iraqi attack on Iran in 1981, Donald Rumsfeld right through the deadly eight year campaign, acting not as an observer but more as an adviser, and possibly more than a bit upset when gutsy Iran alone beat the whole bang lot of them.

Also it was American supplied chemicals which later helped Saddam get rid of more than just a few troublesome Kurds.

Those of our group who spurn truths of Middle East history as not needed old Pap, must possibly feel a bit relieved when they know they are not alone, with Bush and Howard still game to show a leg, though what future historians will make of the pair, goodness knows?

However, the diplomatic moves that Blair is trying to redeem himself with just lately, looks like he realises he'd better turn a different corner, because the end of the ensuing allied Middle East adventure is looking so much like a misadventure even worse than Vietnam.

Yes Saddam was hung for nothing. Murder has always been an early out for the State. Murder, Mirko Bagaric, like torture is not an instrument of civilisation, they are the sign of the barbarian. Both you and the State have much to learn.

My goodness, the amount of codswallop floating around this thread is almost enough to choke on.

CHRIS.. forrrr goodness sake mate.. puh-lease stop watching those Russian cold war propoganda films.... Sadaam had PLENTY of time and opportunity to say what ever he wanted to about anything in court.

Some of you blokes and Meredith included, would simply die out if you could not blame America for something. But Meredith slanders and outright vilifies parents who smack children and states which use capital punishment. meredith, because you gave it as a statement of fact, I will give my statement of fact. "You are wrong". Singapore is a good example of a well disciplined society. It would take probably just a matter of 6 months from the moment Meredith and Bob Brown and Tony Kevin and ChrisShaw and others landed there to 'fix' their deluded society, before it all fell totally apart. By and large when walking around Singapore, I feel its my own back yard, quite safe.

Sadaams hanging wont make a difference to much. But at least in terms of justice, he has now experienced what he himself did to others.
He should be THANKFUL that they did not treat him as MOHAMMED did to some other criminals. Sadaam was dead in less than a second, Mohammed ensured his victims died slowly and in the utmost agony. Inhuman !
Yet this man, died with the words '..and Mohammed is his Messenger' on his lips. Given that Mohammed was responsible for more deaths and misery than all caused by the Iraqi sectarian war, and the US invasion combined and multiplied many times over, it is inexcusable to say that.

Ask the Indians how many died due to Quran based Islamic invasions.
Ask the Assyrians how many died as a result of Quran based Islamic genocide.
Ask the Jews how many tribes were decimated by Mohammed himself.

Of all Sadaams crimes, his greatest one was to point people to Mohammed as a messenger of God with his dying breath.