http://www.msnbc.com/id/16384738/

What is the big hurry? Why not let the violence in Iraq calm down? Where is Saddam going to go? Is it worth it to have more US troops dying because of anger over Saddam being hanged?

Do you think Bush wants to hurry and get this done so he can include it in his upcoming big speech? at the expense of dead US soldiers.

So, you accuse Bush of meddling in Iraq with the war, but you whine when he doesn't meddle in Iraq in Saddam's favor?

Why are you so worried about Saddam's welfare? The Iraqi courts sentenced him, and the people are being increasingly violent because this is being dragged out too long. They're mad because it's not happening as soon as they want. This isn't America sparky. They're not big on long, drawn out trials. They like to mete out justice pronto. Watch what happens when he's publicly executed.

Yeah, that's it. Bush wants it done because he can use it in his upcoming speech. He's also mad because the Iraqis are killing U.S. soldiers and he can't kill them himself. Once again you've foiled an elaborate Bushian plot.

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"The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left."
Ecclesiastes 10:2 (NIV)

Where did I say I was concerned about Saddams welfare? I believe that If you read it again with a unbiased eye you will see that I am concerned about US soldiers welfare, about them being killed by Irai's angry at Saddams hanging. Why hang Saddam when the violence in Iraq is at one of it's highest levels? You arn't saying that the violence is so high because Saddam isn't dead yet. Are you?

I have a better question: Why should they wait? Are you expecting that Saddam will be declared innocent or something? Do you think they might have made a mistake in convicting him of killing thousands of people?

I think the troops would be willing to take that risk. Saddam was not exactly beloved by the Iraqi People.

Either way it isnt up to us.

Please post your evidence that Bush is forcing the Iraqi Government to execute Saddam quickly.

It was implied in your initial post. And by the fact that you seem to defend Saddam every chance you get on here.

I do not hear any soldiers voicing the same concerns you seem to have. And by "any soldiers" I mean not even one.

If they are not concerned, neither am I.

Why not? After all, there will be violence anyway, right?

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My Political Blog (Last post Feb 14) - My MySpace Page

You didn't, but you seem really worried about him.

The smallest faction of Iraq, a sect of Sunni from the Baathist party want him back. Every other Iraqi wants him dead.

Violence in Iraq is ongoing. The sooner he's dead and gone, and in their past, the sooner the Iraqi people can get on with their present problems.

That's certainly a factor, but no, it's not the main reason why there's violence in Iraq.

I seriously doubt you have a clue as to why there's violence in Iraq by Muslims against Muslims.

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"The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left."
Ecclesiastes 10:2 (NIV)

5 troops die By LAUREN FRAYER, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 16 minutes ago



Saddam Hussein's lawyer made a last-ditch effort to impede his execution Thursday, beseeching world leaders to prevent the United States from handing over the ousted dictator to Iraqi authorities who plan to hang him.

The plea from Saddam's attorney came as the U.S. military reported the deaths of five more troops and announced that Iraqi forces, backed by American forces, captured an al-Qaida in Iraq cell leader believed responsible for the June kidnapping of two soldiers who were found tortured and killed.

With at least 72 more Iraqis killed in sectarian violence, U.S. officials and Iraqis expressed concern about the potential for even worse bloodshed following Saddam's execution. The lawyer, Khalil al-Dulaimi, said transferring Saddam to Iraqi authorities could be the trigger.

"If the American administration insists in handing the president to the Iraqis, it would commit a great strategic mistake which would lead to the escalation of the violence in Iraq and the eruption of a destructive civil war," al-Dulaimi told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

Iraq's highest court on Tuesday rejected Saddam's appeal against his conviction and death sentence for the killing of 148 Shiites in the northern city of Dujail in 1982. The court said the former president should be hanged within 30 days.

The White House was preparing for Saddam's execution as early as this weekend, based on information that U.S. officials in Baghdad were receiving from the Iraqi government, a senior administration official said in Washington.

But Iraq's deputy justice minister, Bosho Ibrahim, said Saddam shouldn't be hanged for another few weeks. "The law does not say within 30 days, it says after the lapse of 30 days," Ibrahim said.

He did not explain the discrepancy between his interpretation and the court's, nor could he give a specific execution date.

Al-Dulaimi, Saddam's lawyer, said the ousted leader should enjoy protection from his enemies as a "prisoner of war" and remain in U.S. custody.

"According to the international conventions, it is forbidden to hand a prisoner of war to his adversary," al-Dulaimi said.

"I urge all the international and legal organizations, the United Nations secretary-general, the Arab League and all the leaders of the world to rapidly prevent the American administration from handing the president to the Iraqi authorities," al-Dulaimi said.

An official close to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has said Saddam would remain in a U.S. military prison until he is delivered to Iraqi authorities on the day of his execution. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

Iraqi government offices shut down ahead of an Islamic holiday this weekend, and there was confusion over when Saddam would be executed and whether President Jalal Talabani was required to approve such action.

Raed Juhi, a spokesman for the High Tribunal that convicted Saddam, said that with approval from Talabani, Saddam could be put to death within 30 days. Otherwise, the execution would be held after that period, he said.

But Hiwa Osman, a spokesman for Talabani, has said the execution might not need the president's signature.

International reaction to the denial of Saddam's appeal has been relatively muted.

Cardinal Renato Martino, Pope Benedict XVI's top prelate for justice issues and a former Vatican envoy to the U.N., condemned the death sentence in a newspaper interview published Thursday, saying capital punishment goes against the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.

After Saddam's death sentence was handed down last month, Louise Arbour, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, urged Iraq to ensure a fair appeals process and to refrain from executing Saddam even if the sentence is upheld.

Some international legal observers and human rights groups have also called Saddam's trial unfair because of alleged interference by the Shiite-dominated government.

But State Department Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey said Thursday the Bush administration believes the trial was held in accordance with international and Iraqi laws.

"(The Iraqis) carried out their work in a transparent and open manner and they arrived at a verdict based on the facts in the case," Casey said.

In Dujail, home to the 148 victims of the 1982 killings, townspeople were divided over Saddam's execution.

"America is using him to increase sedition among Iraqis, but we are thinking only of how Iraq can get rid of its problems and achieve security," said Hussein Abases, a Shiite farmer.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman acknowledged there was concern about a possible surge of violence after the execution. "I'm sure the Iraqi government is thinking through that and working with the coalition in terms of the impact that could have," he said in Washington.

At least 30 Iraqis died Thursday in bombings and shootings, including a suicide bombing in a crowd of people waiting to buy kerosene near a stadium in Baghdad that killed 10, according to police. Police also said 42 bodies of tortured men were found dumped in the Iraqi capital Thursday.

The U.S. military announced five more American troop deaths: four soldiers hit by roadside bombs on patrol and a Marine killed in combat in volatile western Iraq. That raises U.S. troop deaths this month to 100, second only to the 105 service members who died in October.

At least 2,988 members of the U.S. military have been killed since the Iraq war began in March 2003, according to an AP count.

The al-Qaida in Iraq cell leader allegedly responsible for the deaths of two of the servicemen was arrested Tuesday in a raid south of Baghdad, the military said. Al-Qaida in Iraq had claimed it killed the two U.S. soldiers found dead in June — Pfc. Kristian Menchaca of Houston and Pfc. Thomas Tucker of Madras, Ore. Their bodies were recovered after a search by 8,000 U.S. and Iraqi soldiers, dubbed Operation Fallen Eagle.

___

Associated Press writers Shafika Mattar in Amman, Jordan, and Christopher Torchia in Baghdad contributed to this report

7 U.S. Troops Added To Rising Toll in Iraq

By Nancy Trejos
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 27, 2006; A01



BAGHDAD, Dec. 26 -- Seven more American service members have been killed in Iraq, the U.S. military reported Tuesday. It is the second deadliest month of the year for troops.

With five days left in December, 87 service members have died, according to figures provided by the military and news releases of combat deaths. The deadliest month this year was October, when attacks in Baghdad and the western Iraqi province of Anbar killed 105 U.S. troops.

The total number of U.S. military deaths in the Iraq war announced by the Pentagon is 2,961.

Military officials and analysts have attributed the rise in U.S. casualties in recent months to the larger number and greater visibility of American troops in Baghdad, plus the intensity of the Sunni insurgency in Anbar.

"We are continuing to conduct operations. We're doing that aggressively," said Lt. Col. Christopher C. Garver, a U.S. military spokesman. "We are fighting a tough war against a tough enemy, and unfortunately we take casualties."

As 2006 began, there was talk on Capitol Hill of withdrawing some U.S. troops by the end of the year. But rising sectarian violence in Baghdad forced President Bush to instead shift troops from other parts of Iraq to the capital, preventing a withdrawal. With no end to the violence, Bush ends the year with more than 140,000 U.S. troops on the ground in Iraq and faced with the decision of whether to send even more.

Although much of the focus of the war has shifted to Baghdad, analysts say the battle in Anbar remains just as intense.

"You have had to limit the number of troops deployed in Anbar and deploy more to Baghdad. This makes U.S. forces more vulnerable in Anbar because you're thinner on the ground," Anthony H. Cordesman, an analyst for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said by phone in Washington. Insurgents have increased the number of attacks "faster than we've been able to make countermeasures effective."

Iraqi civilians have suffered the most casualties in the war. In the latest count available, the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq found that the number of civilians killed in Iraq reached a record monthly high of 3,709 in October.

On Tuesday, at least 54 civilians died in car bombings and mortar attacks in the capital and elsewhere, hospital officials told the Associated Press.

Three car bombs exploded simultaneously in Baghdad's mostly Shiite neighborhood of Bayaa, killing 10 people and wounding about 40, the U.S. military said. Abdul Kareem al-Kinani, a spokesman for the Iraqi Interior Ministry, said there were 14 fatalities and 69 injuries.

A car bomb in the mostly Shiite neighborhood of New Baghdad killed six civilians and wounded nine others, according to an Interior Ministry official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

Sunnis were also targeted. In the Sunni enclave of Adhamiyah, a car bomb exploded near the Abu Hanifa mosque, killing at least 15 people and wounding 37, according to Iraqi TV reports. The bomb tore through markets and kebab stands during the late afternoon rush, according to Iraqi TV.

In the mixed southern Baghdad neighborhood of Dora, national policemen fought armed groups Tuesday evening, Kinani said. Several mortar rounds also fell on the outskirts of the neighborhood, he said.

Most of the U.S. casualties were also the result of bombs. On Monday, one soldier was killed and two wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near their patrol southwest of Baghdad, the U.S. military said. A roadside bomb killed two soldiers and wounded one southwest of Baghdad while they were conducting operations aimed at preventing insurgents from planting such explosives, the military said.

On Tuesday, a roadside bomb detonated near a patrol as it was clearing a route, killing three soldiers northwest of the capital. Another soldier was injured.

Also on Tuesday, a soldier was killed and two were injured when their vehicle rolled over along a dirt canal trail during a combat reconnaissance mission south of Baghdad.

When Bush comes to the podium and declares to America his NEW WAY FORWARD plan he has to tout his many successes. Let's see, he hasn't found Osamma, He's losing in Iraq. The only real success he is going to be able to claim is that Saddam's dead. How convenient.

Care to PROVE your claim that it's Bush's decision? I think you'll find it's the Iraqi government's decision. I also think you'll find that few people in Iraq are going to give two hoots about it.

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"This is a time for a national imperative not to fail in Iraq." Condoleeza Rice, January 11, 2007

The US is losing in Iraq? You only wish it was true.

How many US soldiers were killed during the Battle of the Bulge?
How many US soldiers were killed on Iwo Jima?
How many US soldiers were killed on Okinawa?

Here, I'll give you the answers:

Battle of the Bulge: more than 76,000
Iwo Jima: ~20,000
Okinawa: more than 12,000

Here's a good one--in the Battle of the Wilderness, 29,800 Union and Confederate soldiers were killed. After the battle (which lasted about a month), the Union army picked up stakes and marched 20 or so miles to Petersburg. The entire battle of the Wilderness was for naught. No ground was gained by either side, Grant was unable to breech the Confederate defenses, and Lee was unable to attack Grant's army. Yet, nearly 30,000 soldiers were killed.

You obviously live under the common yet false illusion that history did not begin until your birth (which obviously was not that many years ago). The casualties we've suffered in Iraq are minimum, and for that, we should all be thankful.

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"Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival."
Winston Churchill