CONTROVERSY SURROUNDING SADDAM HUSSEIN EXECUTION

Iraq’s Shiite-led government has ordered an investigation into abusive behavior at Hussein’s execution after an unofficial cell phone captured video of the moments leading up to the hanging (Washington Post; NYT coverage).

I debated if I should post the video here and decided not to. We all know what happens. For those of you who still want to see it I direct you to Tom Zeller Jr. at The Lede Blog.

Another good read is Mark Steyn’s “Blowing a ‘Hinge Moment’ of History” (Jerusalem Post). In related news the Washington Post reports that “New U.N. Chief Defends Death Penalty for Hussein.” Finally, in a fascinating op-ed in the Los Angeles Times, “Death’s Strange Spell,” Susan Moeller contends: “It is not just an unwholesome prurience that makes us desire to see the photographic evidence of Hussein’s death, it is the rightful interest in our own times.”