In the news today from Iraq

[Riverwind (imported)]

Man looses head in double hanging

River

[bobov (imported)]

Enemies of Islam are supposed to be beheaded - so, I'm told, says the Koran. How strangely fitting that a crony of the secular tyrant Saddam should lose his head, even if by accident, in the midst of the Islamic revival in Iraq.

It's also a mercy. People can stay alive for many minutes after being hung, and if there's any flicker of consciousness, these must be agonizing minutes. Beheading is much faster.

I'm bemused by the avalanche of concern expressed about the manner of Saddam's death, and that of his pals. Was it dignified? Was it humane? Did any victim dare to utter a reproach before the execution? Meanwhile, how many people have been held hostage, tormented for weeks, allowed to beg for mercy, and then beheaded for the cameras of Al-Jazeera? All for the crime of being in Iraq without being Islamic. Where were the torrents of international indignation? I read that the Honorable Charles Rangel called Saddam's execution a "lynching." Does that mean Saddam was accused of a non-existant crime, of which he was innocent, and then given no due process of law?

If I didn't know better, I might think that some among us hate their country and are determined to find fault.

[A-1 (imported)]

Well,

If it is done right, it is probably the most humane method...check this out... (http://wap.go.com/wireless/abcnews/xhtm ... sec=Living)

Dr. D.P. Lyle, a cardiologist and author of the book "Forensics for Dummies." "Usually in judicial deaths of any type…the hallmark of what they want to do is try to do it as humanely as possible," said Dr. James Young, president of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. "That's the idea, anyway." "In hanging, it's over really quickly," Young said.

The Physics of Hanging Though it is arguably one of the oldest methods of execution still in use today, hanging is not a simple matter. "The problem with hanging is that it is very difficult to calculate what it takes to do it well, to the extent that something like this can be done well," said Austin Sarat, professor of jurisprudence and political science at Amherst College in Massachusetts and an expert on judicial killing. Forensic science suggests that Saddam's death occurred in one of two ways. The first of these, Lyle said, would have occurred if the noose snapped his neck, breaking a bone called the axis. "If it's done right, what happens is that the weight of the body as it falls basically yanks the neck to one side," he said. "So the axis is either severely damaged or cuts the spinal cord." "As soon as this happens, it's just like a guillotine." Severing the spinal cord would have brought about a condition known as spinal shock. Lyle says spinal shock is the physiological equivalent of a total power outage. "With a blackout, the lights all go out on a power grid," he said. "In the body, the blood vessels all relax almost immediately, and the blood pressure goes down to zero very quickly."

If the rope was too short, however, the speed of Saddam's fall may not have generated enough force to break his neck. "In this situation, the rope cuts off two things," Lyle said. "The first are the arteries that supply blood to the brain, called the carotid arteries. The other is breathing." Young said in this case, the lack of oxygen would start the cascade of events that would have led to Saddam's death. "The major thing that happens here is that you cut off the air supply," Young said. "The loss of consciousness is very rapid. Then you will see some very rapid brain changes, probably including the brain herniating and swelling rapidly." This leads to a process called "coning," in which part of the brain becomes lodged in the spinal column. "From that you will see rapid swelling, which leads to respiratory changes," Young said. The whole process, in this case, would lead to death in just a few minutes.

However, Sarat said this possibility is definitely more painful than a broken neck. "If the rope is not long enough, the person will struggle while they suffocate," he said. "From our understanding, that's quite excruciating." Whether death comes in seconds or minutes, it is unlikely that Saddam would have maintained consciousness through much of the experience. "When you get a very vigorous trauma happening like this, one of the body's reactions is unconsciousness," Young said.

"I think the time of death could vary on all kinds of circumstances, but we're talking about a few minutes at most when it comes to judicial hanging, if it is set up properly." "The most definite thing is that there is not likely to be sustained suffering." In either of these first two scenarios, Saddam's heart would have likely continued to beat for up to 20 or 30 minutes after his brain ceased to function. Though Saddam would have been technically dead at this point, officials conducting the execution would have allowed his body to continue to hang until his heart ceased beating.

There is also a third possible scenario. "If they drop him too far, his head pops off," Lyle said. "But I don't think that we have to worry about it going wrong. I have a feeling the Iraqis know what they are doing."

Yeah, right...

[n3rf (imported)]

Killing anyone is the most INHUMANE deed..N3RF

[Origen (imported)]

Capital punishment is ALWAYS disgusting. Luckily most civilised countries have given it up. It lingers on in inhumane hell holes like China, Iran and many other middle-eastern countries, and ... oh yes ..... somewhere else...

[Slammr (imported)]

Capital punishment is ALWAYS disgusting. Luckily most civilised countries have given it up. It lingers on in inhumane hell holes like China, Iran and many other middle-eastern countries, and ... oh yes ..... somewhere else...

I wonder what country that is. Surely no civilized country would equate itself with harsh, undemocratic, countries like China, Russia, the Islamic countries of the Middle East, and other third world countries. The civilized countries of Europe long ago did away with capital punishment, which isn't a deterrent in any case.

You're not talking about the USA are you? We already know it's no longer a civilized country. What civilized country would make war for no good reason? What civilized country would do murder and call it just?

I'm American. I used to be proud that I was. Someday -- if I live long enough -- I hope to once again be proud that I am.

[Blaise (imported)]

We Americans have disgraced ourselves. We kill the murderers and, meanwhile, slaughter our own victims from the people of Iraqi. Utterly disgusting.

[s_76544 (imported)]

Killing anyone is the most INHUMANE deed..N3RF

Is it humane for the victims family to have their tax money used to feed and house the person who killed their loved one for the rest of that person's life?

[tinydick (imported)]

they should never have passed the death sentance in iraq yes i know what the leaders did but they have now made them heros they should have left them to die in jail that would have got to them more

[s_76544 (imported)]

they should never have passed the death sentance in iraq yes i know what the leaders did but they have now made them heros they should have left them to die in jail that would have got to them more

If they had left them in jail after we pull out would you want to guard them. Image how many attempts would have been made to free them from jail.