Now Hanging Of Saddam Hussein’s Half-Brother Is Controversial
The Iraq government is now faced with yet another probable public relations problem on its hands — this time apparently more a quirk of grisly fate than of execution bystanders seemingly out of control:
Iraqi government officials have shown journalists video of the hanging of two of Saddam Hussein’s aides, during which one of the men was decapitated.The film shows Barzan Ibrahim – Saddam Hussein’s half-brother – and Awad Hamed al-Bandar hanged side-by-side.
Barzan, former intelligence chief, and al-Bandar, former head of Iraq’s Revolutionary Court, were convicted over the killing of 148 Shias in 1982.
The government said Barzan’s beheading was accidental.
The BBC’s Andrew North in Baghdad says the video first shows both men being prepared for execution standing next to each other.
They were both dressed in orange boiler suits.
You can already see the unfortunate symbolism some Iraqis already opposing the government will draw from these descriptive elements or how this is likely to be exploited by them. Reuters reports:
The botched hanging of Saddam Hussein’s half-brother Barzan on Monday aroused Arab suspicions of foul play and malice, deepening the divide between the Iraqi government and Arabs in other countries.The noose pulled off Barzan al-Tikriti’s head as he fell from the gallows, suggesting that the hangman had misjudged the length of rope needed just to break his neck.
Government spokesman Ali Dabbagh said there was no “violation of procedure” in the hanging of Barzan and fellow convict Awad Hamed al-Bander, Saddam’s former chief judge, for crimes against humanity over the killings of 148 Shi’ites.
But from Morocco to Yemen, ordinary Arabs cast doubt on the official explanation. Some recalled the chaotic and abusive treatment of Saddam Hussein when he was hanged on December 30.
Zaid al-Boudani, a shopkeeper in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, said: “I am very sad today, as many other Muslim Arabs are. This execution is part of the revenge campaign going on in Iraq. The way his head was ripped off shows hatred and revenge.”
The president of Morocco’s Human Rights Center described the hangings as a barbaric and vengeful act carried out under external pressure, probably from Iran and the United States.
“We had never heard that the head of a hanged person was ripped from his body, only in this case, which mirrors the hatred and violence,” said the president, Khaled Charkaoui.
Even worse for the Iraqi government — realizing that comments such as these may not inflame people sitting at home reading news on their computers but will have an impact in many parts of Iraq and the Arab world — are these comments:
Azzam Saleh Abdullah, Barzan’s brother-in-law, told Al Jazeera in a telephone call that the Iraqi authorities had not informed the family in advance that the execution was imminent…….…”As for ripping off his head, this is the Safavids’ rancor. They only came to Iraq to commit revenge and shed Iraqi blood. They did not come for democracy or to build a state. May God curse this democracy,” he said.
If you add the uproar over Saddam Hussein’s hanging and this together two things are apparent:
(1)Saddam has been turned into a martyr due to the poor control exercised during his hanging, the original video released by the government that made it seem as if it was just a routine execution, and then the release of the unofficial cell phone video that undermined the credibility of the government’s first version. Tensions within Iraq were aggravated.
(2)His brother winding up beheaded as he’s in an orange jump suit falls into what Hollywood calls “high concept.” It’s imagery (or sometimes words) that capsualize something. It’s almost irrelevant that he was slated to be executed and that this was an accident. The way it turned out will be used against the government — and more tensions within Iraq are likely.
H/t to WatchYo.tv2007 (a new news/video site)
SOME OTHER VIEWS: Jules Crittenden, Secular Blasphemy, nineme, Ed Morrissey, James Joyner (who has some particularly interesting thoughts), No More Mister Niceblog, Chickenhawk Express, Gateway Pundit
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9 Responses to “Now Hanging Of Saddam Hussein’s Half-Brother Is Controversial”
The decapitation folks apparently didn’t read the popular mechanics article on hanging. You need about 1260ft-lbf to seperate the neck. Take this, divide by the prisoner’s weight, and voila, the appropriate length. Too short and he chokes, too long, and well, things break off.
So the Iraqi hangmen are not experts. I’m still not losing any sleep for these guys. Somehow, I don’t see any point in trying to apply western valuses to this situation. Additionally, western elites may oppose the death penalty, but most of the public would gladly bring it back.
Unlike our president, I watched the complete video of Saddam Hussein’s execution, and I’d say that while many of the crowd gets an “F” in deportment for showing poor form at the hanging, the execution was pretty professional. President Hussein had a swift death, which was much more mreciful than that accorded to many of his victims. Maybe someone can translate the table of drops into metric for the benefit of the Iraqi hangmen. I’d hazard a guess the drop was too long because someone took English units and fumbled when they converted it meters. Heck if NASA can screw up the conversion, why should we expect hangmen to do any better.
Sometimes when you hang people their heads come off. I really dont think it is anything more sinister than that.
Sometimes when you invade and overthrow a sovereign nation things don’t work out as you planned. I really don’t think it is anything more sinister than that and would be very surprised if anyone else thought any different. /snark
Well said Steve.
The Iraqi government (if you can call the keystone cops mess they are a government) is a massive joke. Ours is running a close second right now, but would move up many places if we didn’t have Bushco running it.
One of the problems in running operations together is that there is a massive disconnect between Washington and the Green Zone. Does not bode well for the upcoming plans to retake Baghdad, I’m afraid. They are an embarrassment to democracies everywhere so far.
Actually I was referring to the comments that the head was intentionally ripped from the body.
“We had never heard that the head of a hanged person was ripped from his body”
That seems like BS to me. I’ve heard of it and I’m just a civilian in a country that hardly hangs anyone. Executions are messy affairs, everyone acts so shocked at THIS seemingly appalling act when hundreds more go on every day there.
Iraqi civilians who are on their way to work get kidnapped, tortured with power drills, and have their bodies dumped off in mass graves. And THIS “botched” execution is what gets our blood boiling?
Lets see, Bush announces a surge to pacify Baghdad. Maliki tells Sadr to stand down and hide his army, then he has Saddam and now two more Sunnis killed just before we start to show up. How convenient, the Sunnis are in a rage and Sadr city is quiet. We knock off a bunch of Sunni insurgents, who also just happen to be political opponents of Maliki, declare the city peaceful and leave. If I am right that Maliki is purposely stirring things up he will probably need to knock off a few more to make things really boil in the Sunni sections of Baghdad, we will see.
It’s hard for me to get too worked up over this. Those who hated Saddam and his ilk for the deeds they did will be happy and those who are looking for something to turn into a cause may have found it. Whether is a rallying point for them remains to be seen. But it doesn’t matter – they would have found something else to carp about. They may still.