My feeling is that this guy should be kept alive and wondering what his fate will be indefinitely. If he is sentenced to death, that would be fine with me. But I think he should have a very long time to contemplate it. Under some really uncomfortable conditions. IMO a swift judgement and a swift execution would be letting him off too easily. Whatever the UN has to say is obviously irrelevant. Besides, the precedent of the Nuremberg war crimes trials clearly stands as giving the death penalty for "crimes against humanity" as legitimate. Same with Adolph Eichman in Israel 15 or so years later. If Saddam is executed shortly after his certain conviction, he will at least consider himself a martyr. And he will escape the humiliation of a long incarceration. As a prisoner, he may be a cause for terrorists to rally behind. As were PLO members who's release was the basic demand of the Munich Olympics siege. But really, who cares about Saddam? He is not a hero of the fundamentalists loons, nor is he a hero to his own people. This guy really was just so feared that he retained his power with money and brutality. I doubt that his imprisonment would inspire anyone to risk their lives in order to demand his release. He spent over 20 years living in palaces. I think he should spend at least 10 or 20 years or so with a death sentence hanging over his miserable head and have to wonder when it will be carried out. A few trips to the gallows with a last second reprieve to make him shit his pants would be more justice than he deserves. A mental "Russian Roulette" for him. Cruel and unusual punishment? Maybe the definition needs to fit the crime. There were no crimes this man was not guilty of. Ending his life just seems like inadequate punishment to me. Just my personal opinion. Maybe a bit harsh, but again, how can a punishment fit crimes that are so horrible? We cannot physically torture the guy (which is too bad, but probably not a good precedent to set under any circumstances). But we can keep him miserable and demean him very easily. For a guy like this, that would be torture. And perhaps justice. As much as a civilized world can really dish out. (For Bin Laden, maybe we should forget about being civilized altogether if we ever get the chance). RS