Saddam, at time of capture

Baghdad, December 31.006: Saddam Hussein was hanged at dawn on Saturday for crimes against humanity
Saddam never lost his composure, never for a moment, even until the end, did he wavere in his dignity. This in spite of attempts by his opponents at humiliation and ridicule. His strength and confidence, and belief in a supreme ruler,sustained him till the end. The Muslim view of God is more demanding, more strict, less merciful than the familiar Christian Deity.
Shiites, I have recently learned, and so I believe, follow a traditional government, rule by law, similar to our traditional government. Sunnis, not much different from some sections of our nation, not much different from Gerald Ford, oddly, believe in a theocratic rule, that is, to follow the will of God. The flaws in that thinking should be obvious. who is to determine the "Will Of God"? But in any case, Saddam followed Gods Will well. He kept the sectarian violence to a minimum. He was brutalized as a child, and he was a brutal man, in an ancient nation, wherein brutality may have been a positive attribute.

In a story breaking today, January 3, 2007, we find some reaction to video recording of saddams Hanging.
Published: January 3, 2007
BAGHDAD, Jan. 3 JOHN F. BURNS and JAMES GLANZ
— Aides to Iraq’s prime minister said today that one of the guards at the hanging of Saddam Hussein had been detained in connection with the unofficial cellphone video that showed Mr. Hussein being taunted just before his death — scenes that sparked outrage among Sunni loyalists when the video was posted on the Internet.
The aides to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki also sought to downplay the disorder depicted in the video, which showed Mr. Hussein being subjected to a battery of taunts by official Shiite witnesses and guards. The aides said the execution was more dignified than the illicit video makes it appear, and argued that in any case the focus should be on the crimes Mr. Hussein had committed.
Their assertions that a guard may have been responsible for the Internet video ran counter to the statements of witnesses to the hanging, who said that two people were using cellphone cameras to record the event, and that both were officials, not guards.

Here is a link to the cell phone video clip of Saddam's grissly execution:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7494115988134864761&q=Hanging+of+Saddam+hussein