BUSH: IRAQ “FUMBLED” SADDAM EXECUTION, MADE IT LOOK LIKE REVENGE KILLING
January 16, 2007: President Bush said the Iraqi government had "fumbled" the execution of Saddam Hussein. An illicit video of Shi'ite officials taunting Saddam on the gallows drew international criticism and controversy flared when Saddam's half-brother was decapitated by the noose during execution. “I was pleased with the trials they got” Bush said. But he felt Saddam's execution sent a confusing message. "It basically says to people, look, you conducted a trial and gave Saddam justice that he didn't give to others," he said. "But then, when it came to execute him, it looked like it was kind of a revenge killing... It just goes to show that this is a government that has still got some maturation to do.” Bush had said previously the execution should have been carried out in a "more dignified way". (Sources: Reuters, 17/01/2007)
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