Thus far, there is no curfew in Baghdad.
Ed Morrissey live blogged the event.
Hundreds of Iraqis protested the death in Saddam's home town of Tikrit, but compare that to the celebrations elsewhere in Iraq and around the world. Indeed, the majority of people recognize that Saddam was a tyrant who not only ruined Iraq but caused such grief and misery for millions through his actions.
The next issue will be the disposition of the body. The Tikritis are calling for his body to be turned over to his family. The US and Iraqis appear leaning towards burying him in a secret location.
The Vancouver Sun headlines that the Butcher of Baghdad is dead. The Guardian says that witnesses thought that Saddam was a broken man. Newsweek notes that he was afraid. That compares with other reports saying that he was defiant until the end. People are going to see what they want to see in all this.
World leaders and selected experts weighed in:
US PRESIDENT GEORGE W BUSH:The Boston Globe thinks that this plants the seeds of future strife.
Bringing Saddam Hussein to justice will not end the violence in Iraq, but it is an important milestone on Iraq's course to becoming a democracy that can govern, sustain, and defend itself.
FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTRY:
France, which advocates like all its European partners the universal abolition of the death penalty, takes note of Saddam Hussein's execution.
That decision belongs to the Iraqi people and to the Iraqi sovereign authorities.
France calls on to all Iraqis to look forward and to work for reconciliation and national unity.
More than ever the aim must be a return to the full sovereignty and stability of Iraq.
AUSTRALIAN FOREIGN MINISTER ALEXANDER DOWNER:
The people of Iraq now know that their brutal dictator will never come back to lead them.
While many will continue to grieve over their personal loss under his rule, his death marks an important step in consigning his tyrannical regime to the judgment of history and pursuing a process of reconciliation now and in the future.
US DEMOCRATIC SENATOR JOSEPH BIDEN, INCOMING CHAIR OF THE SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE:
Iraq has closed one of the darkest chapters in its history and rid the world of a tyrant.
Every effort was made to afford Saddam the judicial rights he denied to the 148 innocent victims of Dujail and to hundreds of thousands of other Iraqis during his brutal reign.
I hope that the families of his many victims can now begin the healing process.
BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY MARGARET BECKETT:
I welcome the fact that Saddam Hussein has been tried by an Iraqi court for at least some of the appalling crimes he committed against the Iraqi people.
He has now been held to account.
RICHARD DICKER, DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH:
The test of a government's commitment to human rights is measured by the way it treats its worst offenders ... History will judge the deeply flawed Dujail trial and this execution harshly.
LARRY COX, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA:
The rushed execution of Saddam Hussein is simply wrong. It signifies justice denied for countless victims who endured unspeakable suffering during his regime, and now have been denied their right to see justice served.
TOMOHIKO TANIGUCHI, DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY OF JAPAN'S FOREIGN MINISTRY:
We have acknowledged that the judgment has been made according to due process and pay respect to the legal procedures that the Iraqi government has taken.
That said, what is most important in our view is to make this sentence not a new source of conflict but of reconciliation between the Iraqi people.
INDIAN FOREIGN MINISTER PRANAB MUKHERJEE:
We had already expressed the hope that the execution would not be carried out.
We are disappointed that it has been.
We hope that this unfortunate event will not affect the process of reconciliation, restoration of peace and normalcy in Iraq.
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR CHARLES LIPSON:
This will be a public accounting for the crimes that he and his regime undertook systematically over many years, but sadly it won't do much, I think, to set Iraq on a path to stability.
The nature of the internal divisions are too deep. Saddam's execution won't be able to set right the problems that we allowed to take root.
SETH JONES, POLITICAL SCIENTIST/TERRORISM EXPERT:
This means very little in the long run for the level of violence over there.
I expect this will trigger some revenge killings.
But the insurgency has been caused by so many factors I don't think this will have any meaningful impact over the long term.
LIAQAT BALUCH, A LEADER OF PAKISTAN'S SIX-PARTY OPPOSITION ALLIANCE OF CONSERVATIVE RELIGIOUS PARTIES:
This will further increase hatred of America. No one liked or supported Saddam Hussein here but the way he was tried was improper and unjust.
Saddam was a bad guy and he had to be tried for his crimes but not that way.
America is trying to divide Iraq on sectarian lines. U.S. forces are brutally killing civilians there.
BRAZIL FOREIGN MINISTRY:
(Brazil) does not believe carrying out this sentence will contribute to bringing peace to Iraq.
The Washington Post combines Saddam's death with a car bombing in Kufa that killed 30+.
The last moments of Saddam were captured on video.
So what were Saddam's last words? His lawyers released his last written statement, but his final words before his execution were:
Palestine is ArabTo the end, Saddam sided with terrorism. And the Palestinians played to form as well - mourning his death because Saddam tossed money at the Palestinian suicide bombers.
JammieWearingFool has a good roundup of reactions as does Pajamas Media. Memeorandum has a monster wrapup on reactions.
Ed Driscoll notes Drudge's unusual use of two sirens relaying the story.
Others blogging and noting media reaction: Webloggin, Florida Masochist (who wont be watching the execution), Clarity and Resolve, Dr Sanity (who notes the cheering in heaven), Sensible Mom, Hot Air, QandO and Michelle Malkin.
Technorati: saddam hussein, saddam's death, iraq, kurds, dujail, shiites, bush, capital punishment, justice.
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