NEW YORK - American television networks were initially spared the thorny decision of whether to air graphic footage of Saddam Hussein's execution after the Iraqi government declined to release video of the moments of his actual hanging early Saturday morning in Baghdad.

But hours later, a video which was apparently shot on a cell phone surfaced on Arabic television channels and Web sites like Google, underscoring how quickly controversial images rocket through cyberspace, whether or not there have been attempts to control them.


MercuryNews.com | 12/31/2006 | Execution video: TV no, Net yes



And just much entertainment value is there in this?

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I won't be watching it anytime soon (I've got other things to do), but if someone finds that entertaining then so be it for them. There was no huge uproar when we had videos of beheadings making their way online, not that I remember anyway.

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"The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom."
Isaac Asimov

It isn't something that I feel I have to see. I kind of figured someone would record the hanging somehow, if only to prove to people that it was done. If there weren't someone out there with this video, all we would be hearing is that it wasn't him or something to that effect. There will always be people who are watching things like this for entertainment value, I just don't happen to be one of them.

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Just remember...if the world didn't suck, we'd all fall off.

I remeber years ago, the most populkar vidweo rentals were, "The Faces of Death", which was a series of videos showing people being killed in one form or another. I thought at the time, just how sick does someone have to be to find entertainment in death?

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TRUTH exist, only a falsehood has to be invented.

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Don't know how you feel about Bill O'Reilly, Chuq, (I usually don't mind him) but he recently spent about a month going on about how our culture has become with things like Faces of Death and movies like Saw 3. Do you think it's a reflection on the entire society that these film-makers make so much money?

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"The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom."
Isaac Asimov

IMO, yes, I see that Americans are pretty ate up with death and violence. I do not think it is a conscious thing, but somewhere crap went wrong. A horror movie in my day was frankenstri or Dracula or mummies, I do not know when the gore factor kick in. I was on the pier and that boat went right past me.

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STUPIDITY Is The Deliberate Cultivation Of Ignorance

TRUTH exist, only a falsehood has to be invented.

Please Visit My Blog http://studiesandobservations.blogspot.com/

Those same Americans were recently condemning Iraqi beheadings. I guess they believe hanging has a higher social value.

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The cell phone video is all over the news this morning. It's plain to see why the government wanted to disclose their own version.

Things weren't quite as smooth as they seemed to be.

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"To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead." Thomas Paine

Military might doesn't make up for political stupidity.

Just how "smooth" would you think strangling someone to exfixiation would go, Tumbleweed?

I think the problem lies in the hijacking of Christianity by the republican party. We sure love killing and judging and hating. The new anti-Christ is here...and he had enough followers to steal two elections.

I don't think Saddam was any angel. But he did not attack us and there was no concrete evidence he had WMDs nor was planning to attack us. IMHO, the world mafia cartel of controlled oil production just wanted his loot...so they pirated it...

When you think it was Bush's father who provided Saddam with WMDs to attack Iran, why on earth would he ever go to his death in peace over this? Do you relax and let it go when you've had one of the biggest scams pulled over your eyes?

It would take at least 3 threads to address your questions.

When I said smooth I was referring to the fact that Saddam wasn't going gently into the night. All we saw was Saddam standing,having the noose placed around his neck, waiting for them to release the trap door.

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"To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead." Thomas Paine

Military might doesn't make up for political stupidity.