Iraqis were responsible for Saddam hanging -US general

[maddezmom]

BAGHDAD, Jan 3 (Reuters) - A senior U.S. general said on Wednesday U.S. forces left all security measures at Saddam Hussein's execution, including searching witnesses for mobile phones, to Iraqi authorities.

An unofficial video of the hanging, apparently filmed on a mobile phone, showed Shi'ite officials taunting Saddam just before he was hanged, sparking outrage among his fellow Sunni Arabs as well as concern among moderate Shi'ites and Kurds.

Asked at a news conference in Baghdad on Wednesday about criticism of the hanging, U.S. military spokesman Major General William Caldwell said: "It was not our decision as to what occurred but we would have done it differently."

"We had absolutely nothing to do with the facility where the execution took place," Caldwell said, adding that U.S. forces flew Saddam to the prison where the execution took place at dawn and then withdrew from the building.

more:http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L03131595.htm

[HuffleClaw]

1. bullshit

[DoYouEverWonder]

2. He sounds like Pontius Pilot

n/t

[fooj]

3. Little Lord Pissypants gave strict instructions...

Do not wake him UNLESS the exection DOES NOT take place. Hmmmmmmm...

[ClintonTyree]

4. So, the U.S. micro-manages every detail of Iraq's existence......

as a country, at present, but somehow the execution of Saddam was strictly "hands off" and left entirely to the Iraqis?

It's difficult for me to believe that there weren't at least a few Americans present to witness and revel in the murder of the century. I'm almost positive that our beloved pResident would want SOME trophy from that moment, some keepsake to re-energize his smirk when needed. As demented as he is I'm almost positive he'd want video of the execution as well. I'd be willing to wager that he has in his possession a complete documentary of the event. Of course, we'll never know for sure but he's sick enough to demand and treasure something like that.

[Eugene]

5. Caldwell sounds more irked about the camera getting in than the farce it filmed.

U.S. forces handed the highest value prisoner in Iraq to unprofessional
"security" forces that they don't fully trust and just walked away.
They didn't even post an observer to make sure things went right.
And now they are shocked, shocked at the resulting fiasco.
Fascinating.

This could have been an even bigger disaster than it was and Caldwell
is focusing on the unauthorized camera.

[demobrit]

6. US held Saddam 3 years,Iraqis held Saddam 33 Minutes

Before they executed him.

[ohio2007]

10. only 33 minutes ?

Saddam held power over his people for more than 33 years using the minority and 33 minutes was all it took to make a statement by the majority that now rule

[rebel with a cause]

7. The problem with this position is

You cannot have control and not take responsibility. Well, you can, but at what cost. My ex did it for seventeen years, but eventually it came back to bite him, when he found he no longer had any control over "his" house. US is going to face the same situation in Iraq unless it does something. Like give up control and take responsibility, help rebuild, but make as graceful an exit as possible.

[T_i_B]

8. US 'would have handled hanging differently'

Posting here to avoid duping

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/03/uiraq103.xml

The row over the bungled handling of Saddam Hussein’s execution gathered new momentum today when a senior American general admitted the hanging would have been “done differently” had it been carried out by United States troops.

Gen Caldwell's comments revealed the deep sense of embarrassment felt by America after mobile phone video footage of the execution showed Saddam being crudely taunted and insulted as he was about to be hanged.

It portrayed the American-backed Iraqi government as brutally sectarian and even managed to create sympathy for Saddam just as America wanted to paint him as an evil tyrant held to account for crimes against humanity.

"Had we been physically in charge at that point we would have done things differently,” he said. Gen Caldwell stressed the execution was handled entirely by the Shia-dominated Iraqi government. ”We had absolutely nothing to do with the facility where the execution took place,” he said.

[louis-t]

9. In 'neo-con think' the rationale would be...

1.Hang Saddam before Dem majority takes office.
2.Leak video to stir up more hatred.
3.We didn't do it, it was the Iraqis.
4.We would have done it different.
5.Blame Sunnis for ensuing violence.
6.20,000 more troops.
7.Funnel billions to FOB.

[Say_What]

11. Hang Saddam before he's tried for the stuff we're complicit in...n/t

[rebel with a cause]

12. I just watched the videos.

My daughter didn't want me to because of my heart, but I took a chance and watched them. So far, so good. This may have been posted elsewhere, but I have a question. Did anyone else hear Englsh being spoken when the camera kept moving around. I hear someone saying something like "...if you just hold it like..." The camera then steadies on Saddam.

[AzDar]

13. The U.S. transported Saddam to the U.S. military installation where Saddam

was hanged, then the U.S. flew his corpse to Tikrit.
Nahhh, the U.S. clearly had NOTHING to do with it. :sarcasm:

[struggle4progress]

15. You appear to be correct

The actual site of the execution is known:

Saddam Hussein Hanged
Voice of America News
Jan 1, 2007
... The execution took place at a former military intelligence headquarters in Baghdad's Shi'ite neighborhood of Kazimiyah ...
http://www.defencetalk.com/news/publish/wars/Saddam_Hussein_Hanged13009717.php

This link seems to indicate the US controls the site, though I'm not familiar with the website and do not know how reliable it is or what group it actually represents:

Iraqi Resistance Report for events of Thursday, 9 November 2006. Translated and/or compiled by Muhammad Abu Nasr, member, editorial board, the Free Arab Voice

Resistance blasts US headquarters in Baghdad’s al-Kazimiyah district with mortars.

In a dispatch posted at 1:55pm Makkah time Thursday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance forces fired a mortar barrage at the former headquarters of Iraqi Military Intelligence in northern Baghdad, a facility that US forces have occupied and turned into one of their headquarters.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported a source in the Iraqi puppet police as saying that the US occupied facility in Baghdad’s al-Kazimiyah district was struck by seven 62mm mortar rounds. The sound of explosions could be heard in various parts of al-Kazimiyah and plumes of smoke rose over the US-occupied facility.

http://www.albasrah.net/en_articles_2006/1106/iraqiresistancereport_091106.htm

[Cass]

14. We're supposed to believe that they just let the Iraqis wing this one??

The execution of a deposed head of state that they had to know would be scrutinized by the ENTIRE FRIGGING WORLD and we're supposed to swallow this line of bullshit? Come on.

The pottery barn rule comes into play here - if we break it, we own it. The mere fact that we are occupying Iraq at the moment and that we provided them with judicial training leaves us with some responsibility for this situation. We turned Saddam over to a Shiite death squad who turned his execution into a deranged spectacle which, in turn, has made the mother of all martyrs out of Saddam...that's the height of incompetence. I am having trouble wrapping my head around the enormity of this screw-up.