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 typeÂ…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...