Let me start with saying how surprised i am at the comments ive been reading in the forums - things like:

"

that woulda been dope with a fireing squad,...

cept do it nice and slow,

one shot in each foot, then soot out each knee cap, then cap his nuts off,

then take a 50.cal and hit him once in one leg then once in the pelvic region, then take him to the hospital and heal him...

then do it all again

or. put a plastic bag over his head...

a clear one so you can watch..."

You all seem to forget that Saddam was in fact a human being, though maybe one without a heart.  What some suggest is cruel, and inhumane. Although he did do absolutely awful, despicable acts, that is no reason to wish a slow painful death upon another human being. I just cannot believe someone would wish that on someone else, especially when that person wasn't really directly affected by that person's actions (ok, sure, we went to war over him...but still.)

Now my point: Saddam should not have been put to death. I base this on the thought that there is in fact no life after death. No, I do not believe in religion, I believe in science. Saddam was in fact let off easy. What I had hoped would happen is that Saddam would have been imprisoned in some sort of maximum security prison like the one in Colorado (inmates are confined to their cells 23 hours a day and can not in any way communicate amongst each other). He was 69 when he died, that means he would have had at least another 10 years, barring suicide  (though that could be prevented), to think about his deeds, and feel the guilt for killing countless numbers of innocent victims.

Although there are good arguements supporting each side (execute vs prison), i still believe Saddam should have been kept alive.