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Saturday, December 30, 2006
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An Unpopular Question About Hanging Saddam

Like almost everyone else, I'm quite pleased with the fact that Saddam was hanged.  But if that's all I had to say about it, then I probably wouldn't bother blogging it.  Instead, I have to ask a question to all of you.  During the November election, one of the questions proposed to the people of Wisconsin was whether the death penalty should return to Wisconsin for capital murder.  I expressed the opinion that we should not bring back the death penalty, not because I was opposed to the idea morally, but because I was unconvinced that innocent people would not be killed.  In fact, I briefly discussed this issue early with regard to Saddam.  In this case I have no problem reconciling my opposition to the Wisconsin death penalty, and the hanging of Saddam, because his guilt is not in doubt.

But during the Wisconsin death penalty debate, some of you expressed opposition to it, not because you worried that innocent people might be killed, but because you were in moral opposition to killing in general, whether that opposition was for religious reasons or others.  So for those of you were opposed to the death penalty for moral reasons, but are happy Saddam was hanged... how do you reconcile those two beliefs?

I'm honestly curious.

# Posted at 11:45 AM by Nick  |  Comment Feed Link 5 Comments  |  No Trackbacks

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Saturday, December 30, 2006 12:46:54 PM (Central Standard Time, UTC-06:00)
The difference is that Saddam's death is a matter of foreign policy and national security. It is a tactical victory in that it ends the possibility of Saddam's return to power, no matter how remote it was (although the idea was floated recently by at least one pundit).

There is the additional factor of increasing the severity of risk to those opposed to the United States. Risk really has two elements: probability and severity. The probability of the United States taking action to remove a particular government may have gone down in the last year, but the severity of the risk (execution rather than mere removal from power) may cause some foreign power to think twice.

It does send a message to Syria, Iran and even Saudi Arabia. The penalty has just gone up.
Saturday, December 30, 2006 3:07:37 PM (Central Standard Time, UTC-06:00)
So you don't believe it to be a matter of justice carried out by the Iraqi people through their court system, but rather the completion of a military attack? What does that say about the sovereignty of the Iraqi government then?
Saturday, December 30, 2006 4:28:44 PM (Central Standard Time, UTC-06:00)
The Iraqi state is in a state of civil war and does not yet have sovereignty over the whole of their territory. Until that's achieved, they are in a state of war. Hence, their role in the death of Saddam Hussein is completely understandable. For the United States, the hanging was a tactical victory. For the Iraqi government, it was a strategic victory. Think if Napoleon had been executed the first time. No 100 days, no Waterloo.
Saturday, December 30, 2006 8:45:30 PM (Central Standard Time, UTC-06:00)
As far as your arguments about probability and severity... putting Iran and Syria on notice... isn't that the same basic argument for the death penalty in regards to murder? Putting people on notice that if they kill someone, then they'll get killed right back? Making the penalty a certainty of death?
Saturday, February 10, 2007 6:23:06 PM (Central Standard Time, UTC-06:00)
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