That being said, i’m in complete agreement with you that there should be some limits to ‘freedom of information’ and whilst the idea of people making informed decisions about what to watch and what not to, someone, too young to understand the greater implications of what they are seeing, could easily stumble across such a video.

Sadly, as i said before, it’s a grim reality that currently, there are too many people who would like to see this video for some companies to resist showing it or (negligently?) allowing it to be shown.

i actually am not anti the hanging of Saddam, i think it was probably more than he deserved. I’m anti companies showing his demise in the western world. Yes, if people wanted it they’d find it, but this isn’t (and shouldn’t be) about the freedom of information. YouTube carrying the video to me is ludicrous. The content is distasteful, disrespectful, unsuitable and highly political. Let YouTube be the home of cats using toilets, teen karaoke and amateur jackass – leave the politics and world affairs to the experts.

I think it’s probably a simple case of supply and (morbid) demand. Sadly, there are too many people who would like to see this thing and as hard as YouTube and other web based video server companies (may say they) are trying to keep it off – people will find a way to get it online.

One also has to consider the mercenary benefit of having such a sought after video available to view – the attention garnered through publicity (both negative and positive) cannot be quantified but is surely quite the boon to any company willing to let money override morality…

Incidentally – nice piece on the IPhone…gotta get me one of these!

He doesn’t agree with it either and thinks choosing to hang him on the first day of Eid al-Adha was “unthinkable”. Wisely, he chooses not to comment on whether the sentence passed was correct, nor whether the court was lawful under occupation.

He does think Saddam will become a martyr now.

But he was always going to! – whether or not he was taunted and then hanged. Admittedly, taunting someone about to be executed is incredibly reprehensible and should be condemned, but i maintain that this is unlikely to make any repurcussions worse.

For the record – i think the video shouldn’t have been shown, Saddam shouldn’t have been hanged and the death penalty is patently wrong. That being said, Saddam was brought to justice under the Iraqi system and not the American which we should be grateful for and is a strong political and diplomatic move.

Video footage of the execution was an unnecessary but inevitable result of the state of modern morality and general morbid fascination. Many in the western world were baying for Saddam’s blood and to see the footage would quell any doubts of a cover-up or falsification of actions.

I think we generally like to think of ourselves as morally grounded individuals but how many of us slow down or crane our necks to see what is going on at an accident on the motorway? The strange demand from people to see the death of the late Australian naturalist, Steve Irwin is indicative of our fascination with life, death and the finality of things.

Personally – i think that seeing the footage will have little effect on the future political landscape in Iraq. If the footage wasn’t seen, Saddam would still be a martyr to his followers, regardless. The fact that he was seen, defiant, is probably irrelevant. I suggest that many among us are less concerned with the fact that the video was shown, and more irritated by the fact that he was not more scared or quaking at the inevitability of his predicament.

In reality – it isn’t surprising that he was defiant and steadfast – the final stages of someone going to their death are commonly recorded as defiance and acceptance. Saddams behaviour and attitude is nothing if not predictable.

I agree it is in poor taste and the death penalty is at odds with the basic tenets of justice in a modern world. I also agree it would probably have been wise for it not to have been shown and that there is potential for backlash. However, i don’t think it’s impact is worth giving too much credit to. Any backlash would’ve come regardless and i think this will do little to further engender Iraqis loyal to Saddam with any greater sense of hatred for the ‘infidels’ than they had prior to his execution.