The date and timing of Saddams hanging hasn’t been set yet, but as of late Thursday it was said that when he’s turned over by the American Military to the Iraqi Government he’ll be hanged within 36 hours, and hanged before the start of the Muslim holiday on Sunday.
Saddam was convicted in the deaths of 148 people in 1982 earlier this year. Several sources have said that Saddam’s execution would be videotaped by the Iraqi government, though it isn’t clear if this will be released to the public or broadcast live over the networks.
“We will video everything,” Iraqi National Security adviser Mouffak al Rubaie told CBS News.
The Iraqi government released video last Tuesday of the hanging of 13 convicts, so it’s presumed that the hanging of Saddam will eventually be aired. ABC and CBS said they wouldn’t air the full execution if the video became available.
“We’re very aware that we’re coming into people’s living rooms and that there could be children watching,” CBS News senior vp Linda Mason said.
“We have very, very strict guidelines with how to deal with that,” said Bob Murphy, senior vp at ABC News. “If there were pictures made available of the execution, they would have to be viewed by senior management before we would put them on the air, and we would make a judgment of taste and propriety of what we would show.”
CNN and Fox News were still in discussion of what they would do if footage became available. The newly launched Al-Jazeera International network hasn’t stated if it will air the videotapes yet either. Al-Jazeera’s pan-Arab channel has never shown an execution.
What’s your take on this? Would you watch Saddam Hussein?
YES… Absoluteley, I would watch because saddam watched most of his butcheristic acts, so, on with the video…..
Ugh! I think the world would be a much better place if all governments practiced such transparency, but no, I won’t watch.