Fallout From Saddam's Fall

Randall Pinkston reporting from Iraq said that there were concerns that there might be additional violence around the world as a result of the Saddam's execution.

US forces are on high alert in Iraq against potential threats, and you can be assured that law enforcement in the US is going to be on the watch for threats with New Year's celebrations right around the corner. The thing is that the jihadis really don't need another excuse to kill civilians. They do it every day. 24/7/365.

It doesn't matter that this is right in the middle of the hajj or that Eid is just a few days away. The jihadis and Islamists keep on killing; and the people they're killing are mostly fellow Muslims.

Iraq the Model notes that 2007 will be the year that Saddam ceases walking on the planet.

Don Surber notes that the lawyers were busy trying to stay the execution pulling out all the stops. Yemen and Libya were also trying to stay the execution, though I wonder if the Libyans noted the irony in that - did anyone try to stay the murder of the passengers on Pan Am flight 103 that Libyan agents blew up over Scotland? Yemen and due process don't exactly go hand in hand either.

Pajamas Media has the Saddam death watch covered.

The execution was filmed according to BBC reports, which is what one would expect in order to verify such things. I imagine that they'll also to an autopsy to confirm he's dead - laying him out on a slab like they did to his sons.

I heard that they're going to find a secret burial place for him and that they're not going to hand his remains over to his daughter for burial outside Iraq.

Drudge reports that NBC broke in first with the news, followed by CBS and ABC lagged behind. I must have missed the NBC report because all I saw while channel surfing was the CBS report. The NYT has a breaking news banner at 10:37PM ET saying Saddam was executed.

MSNBC is reporting Saddam's half-brother and an ex-judge also executed with Saddam. The two were convicted of crimes committed at Dujail.

Video reaction is pouring in.

Gateway Pundit has a major roundup.

Amnesty International had condemned the verdict of the appeals court. I'm sure they can't be happy campers knowing that Saddam is toast.

Others weighing in: Blue Crab Boulevard, Hot Air, and Ed Morrissey. Stay tuned to memeorandum for the inevitable wave of reactions.

UPDATE:
The New York Times wonders just how much of the execution should be televised. The world should see what happens to genocidal dictators. It should be a lesson, though I doubt any other dictators will pay it much heed. They'll continue on with their business of killing and destroying lives and the rest of the world will go back to doing whatever it is that they do.

UPDATE:
Iraq will continue to be a dangerous place, but the dictator who helped shape the conditions we see there is no more. Others commenting: Macranger, , Tammy Bruce, Babalu Blog, Bill's Bites, Bizzyblog, and Dan Riehl.

Michelle Malkin and Patterico also weigh in.

Of course, no conversation about Saddam Hussein can be complete without the South Park imagination of what Saddam is about to encounter:



UPDATE:
On a more serious note, this is the legacy that Saddam leaves behind. The mass graves that litter the countryside.

Technorati: saddam hussein, iraq, kurds, dujail, shiites, bush, capital punishment, justice.