World is better off with Hussein gone
Saddam Hussein has been hanged by his former subjects for his enormously evil deeds. And Iraq - and the world - are a far better place ("Executed," Dec. 30).
I hope that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Syria's Bashar Assad learn from this example.
Mr. Hussein's crimes were on a world-historical scale, rivaling in brutality, if not sheer numbers, those of Hitler, Lenin, Stalin and Mao.
Only the willfully blind choose to ignore such enormous evil.
We Americans should be proud that we invaded Iraq in 2003, putting an end to this evil dictatorship.
Had we not invaded Iraq, Mr. Hussein's regime would still be in power, tyrannizing Iraq and threatening the civilized world in conjunction with the world's Islamist totalitarians.
However dangerous they are now, they would be even more dangerous with Mr. Hussein's regime still in power.
The only way the United States can deal with those other threats is with our own armed might.
Kurt A. Snavely
Hershey, Pa.
Never celebrate a man's death
I have never awaited with glee, celebrated or felt vindicated or smug or joyful about another human's death. Perhaps that's because I was raised to be a gentleman.
The Sun's celebratory headline about Saddam Hussein being executed made me sick to my heart ("Executed," Dec. 30).
Although he may have been an awful person who did terrible things, all of my teachers taught me about the concepts of redemption and forgiveness.
I will never celebrate another's death. That is for those whose hearts are full of vengeance, not justice.
The Bush family's enemies are not my enemies. But the deed is done. So be it.
My hands are clean. However, as a Christian or a Buddhist or a loving Humanist or however you want to categorize those who disagree with vengeance, I can never celebrate another person's death.
Michael S. Eckenrode
Baltimore
Hussein is gone, but chaos continues
Saddam Hussein was a most detestable man, and he deserved the contempt of the world. Apparently, he murdered many thousands of his own people in the most savage way ("Executed," Dec. 30).
However, let's not forget that our country aided and abetted him in many of his crimes. We even provided him the means to commit some of his most heinous acts.
When it was to our advantage to use Mr. Hussein, we did so while closing our eyes to the despicable things we knew he was doing.
When President Bush saw fit to make Mr. Hussein a scapegoat for the 9/11 attacks and invade Iraq, most people did not see the end of his reign of terror as anything other than a good thing for the Iraqi people.
Still, I'm pretty sure we have not replaced him with anything better. The Iraqi people are suffering and will likely continue to suffer for many years to come.
The country is in chaos and, sadly, Americans have now committed great crimes against the Iraqi people.
Twenty-six years ago, Ronald Reagan asked voters the question, "Are you better off today than you were four years ago?"
I wonder how the Iraqi people would answer that question today.
Paula Baranowski
Havre de Grace
We still must find new path in Iraq
While I am as happy as anyone that Saddam Hussein got the punishment that he deserved, his execution doesn't change the facts on the ground ("'New Iraq' declared, but deaths continue," Dec. 31).
We are fighting a never-ending insurgency, and President Bush has not adopted any new policies that may lead to a new course in Iraq.
It is not enough to simply have a new secretary of defense; we need new policies as well.
The ideal of a free and democratic Iraq is a noble one.
Let's make it happen, or get out, quickly.
Steven M. Clayton
Ocean, N.J.
In death, Hussein still hogs headlines
Even in death, Saddam Hussein wins. His death gets a two-inch-high bold headline on the front page of The Sun ("Executed," Dec. 30) while that of a former American president gets space on Page 3A ("First, a hometown church service for President Ford," Dec. 30).
George Lucien Gregoire
Baltimore
Speedy execution sets a fine example
On Nov. 5, Saddam Hussein was convicted and sentenced to death. An appeal of the conviction and death sentenced was immediately made, promptly considered by the court and turned down.
On Saturday, just 55 days after his conviction - not the years that it takes in the United States - his death sentenced was carried out ("Executed," Dec. 30).
Now that is quick justice for all his victims, their relatives and others who suffered from Mr. Hussein's madness.
The Iraqi justice system has the right idea in promptly hearing the appeal and then quickly carrying out the death sentence when the appeal failed.
If only our judicial appeal process would act so promptly (i.e., within months after the conviction) in determining the legality of death sentences.
Ron Wirsing
Havre de Grace
The death penalty is an act of cruelty
I oppose the death penalty. It is a violation of the fundamental human right to life and has no place in a humane and civilized society ("Noble ideas don't deter killers who kill again," Dec. 27).
There is a stark contrast between the barbarity of the act of execution and the elaborate legal, social and religious proprieties with which we have disguised the death penalty.
We need to ask whether support for the death penalty is a consequence of a concern for justice, or if what makes the death sentence so appealing to us is its finality and lack of ambiguity.
Could it be that it is not the criminal we want executed but rather what the criminal represents - a whole confluence of weakness, failure, fear and loathing?
Perhaps there is also a secret satisfaction to retaining the power to deliver a fatal blow.
But the death penalty is a slow form of torture culminating in murder - the premeditated killing of a human being by the state.
It is racist, capricious and barbaric.
It is time for us to join the rest of the civilized world and abolish it.
Gerald Ben Shargel
Baltimore
Curb the pollution from all our vehicles
The Sun's editorial "Curbing our cars" (Dec. 29) certainly has an important message about autos polluting our air. However, the editorial mentions only cars, neglecting to cite the pollution from trucks, buses, trains, farm equipment and motorcycles.
These other vehicles also spew their share of pollutants into Maryland air.
Curbing the emissions of all polluting vehicles is necessary for cleaner air and better health.
So why should we just stop with cars?
Larry Simpson
Baltimore