Saddam should have been studied, not executed - GoFuckYourself.com

ADL Colin · 01-05-2007, 02:51 PM

Interesting article

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/...,5577883.story

Saddam should have been studied, not executed

Sparing Hussein and studying his makeup could have provided valuable research.

By Richard Dawkins, RICHARD DAWKINS, an evolutionary biologist, is a professor at Oxford University. He is the author of many books including, most recently, "The Ancestor's Tale" and "The God Delusion."
January 4, 2007

THE OBVIOUS objections to the execution of Saddam Hussein are valid and well aired. His death will provoke violent strife between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, and between Iraqis in general and the American occupation forces. This was an opportunity to set a good example of civilized behavior in dealing with a barbarically uncivilized man. In any case, revenge is an ignoble motive. If President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair are eventually put on trial for war crimes, I shall not be among those pressing for them to be hanged.

But I want to add another and less obvious objection: Hussein's mind would have been a unique resource for historical, political and psychological research, a resource that is now forever unavailable to scholars.

Imagine that some science-fiction equivalent of Simon Wiesenthal built a time machine, traveled back to 1945 and returned to the present with a manacled Adolf Hitler. What should we do with him? Execute him? No, a thousand times no. Historians squabbling over exactly what happened in the Third Reich and World War II would never forgive us for destroying the central witness to all the inside stories, and one of the pivotal influences on 20th century history. Psychologists, struggling to understand how an individual human being could be so evil and so devastatingly effective at persuading others to join him, would give their eyeteeth for such a rich research subject.

Kill Hitler? You would have to be mad to do so. Yet that is undoubtedly what we would have done if he hadn't killed himself in 1945. Hussein is not in the same league as Hitler, but, nevertheless, in a small way his execution represents a wanton and vandalistic destruction of important research data.

He should have been locked up, by all means. Kept him in jail for the rest of his life, to be sure. But to execute him was irresponsible. Hussein could have provided irreplaceable help to future historians of the Iran-Iraq war, of the invasion of Kuwait and of the subsequent era of sanctions culminating in the invasion. Uniquely privileged evidence on the American government's enthusiastic arming of Hussein in the 1980s is now snuffed out at the tug of a rope (no doubt to the relief of Donald Rumsfeld and other guilty parties; it is surely no accident that the trial of Hussein neglected those of his crimes that might ? no, would ? have implicated them).

Political scientists of the future, studying the processes by which unscrupulous leaders arise and take over national institutions, have now lost key evidence forever. But perhaps the most important research in which a living Saddam Hussein could have helped is psychological. Most people can't even come close to understanding how any man could be so cruel as Hitler or Hussein, or how such transparently evil monsters could secure sufficient support to take over an entire country.

What were the formative influences on these men? Was it something in their childhood that turned them bad? In their genes? In their testosterone levels? Could the danger have been nipped in the bud by an alert psychiatrist? How would Hitler or Hussein have responded to a different style of education? We don't have a clear answer to these questions. We need to do the research.

Are there lots of Husseins and lots of Hitlers in every society, with most ending up as football hooligans wrecking trains rather than dictators wrecking countries? If so, what singles out the minority that do come to power? Or were men such as these truly unusual? What can we do to prevent them gaining power in the future? Are there changes we could make to our political institutions that would make it harder for men of Hitler's or Hussein's psychological types to take them over?

These questions are not just academically fascinating but potentially of vital importance for our future. And they cannot be answered by prejudice or preconception or intuitive common sense. The only way to answer them is by research. It is in the nature of research on ruthless national dictators that the sample size is small. Wasn't the judicial destruction of one of the very few research subjects we had ? and a prime specimen at that ? an act of vandalism?

dready · 01-05-2007, 03:41 PM

That's exactly why he was killed. If he was studied, more facts would come out about his history.

Babaganoosh · 01-05-2007, 03:44 PM

An autopsy could be considered studying him. That's good enough for me.

webair · 01-05-2007, 04:48 PM

WOW i am not the only intelligent humanitarian on the board! i agree!!! What good does it do us to kill anyone I think its an antiquated concept personally. I agree with ADL we should pick his brain and see how we can learn from the monster.

ADL colin I like you hit me up for some free hosting =))

VicD · 01-05-2007, 05:00 PM

it's too late for studying

nico-t · 01-05-2007, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dready

That's exactly why he was killed. If he was studied, more facts would come out about his history.

yep... i bet he had alot of secrets that he took with him in his grave about the US government's dirty business.. remember... it's all about the money
saddams excution has nothing to do with his past killings, it was just a very convenient argument at the time he wasnt needed anymore by the US. You think they give a fuck about peoples lives? Look at their own soldiers they send to their deaths... so damn sad.

The only global political figure who i think is not (yet) making his decisions only for the money is Kofi Anan, but that makes him sadly also less powerful. $$ = power

who · 01-05-2007, 05:03 PM

There is NEVER any reason to kill a human being. NEVER.

http://www.husseinhanging.com I got fucking sent some kind of package with chemicals in it ( thought it was anthrax or something

shame on me) for running this shitty site. All the people with 'opinions' are fucking mental.

directfiesta · 01-05-2007, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dready

That's exactly why he was killed. If he was studied, more facts would come out about his history.

you got that right.

polish_aristocrat · 01-05-2007, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nico-t

The only global political figure who i think is not (yet) making his decisions only for the money is Kofi Anan, but that makes him sadly also less powerful. $$ = power

and Kofi Anan is who.... ?

directfiesta · 01-05-2007, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dready

That's exactly why he was killed. If he was studied, more facts would come out about his history.

vvvvvvvv

directfiesta · 01-05-2007, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dready

That's exactly why he was killed. If he was studied, more facts would come out about his history.

post is fucked up again.

BoyAlley · 01-05-2007, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dready

That's exactly why he was killed. If he was studied, more facts would come out about his history.

And they'd lead directly to the White House.

tony286 · 01-05-2007, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dready

That's exactly why he was killed. If he was studied, more facts would come out about his history.

yeppers the us didnt want that lol

Agent 488 · 01-05-2007, 05:21 PM

science has no tools to study the mysteries of the human soul ....

DaddyHalbucks · 01-05-2007, 05:25 PM

So Hussein is a Hitler-like monster... but Bush and Blair might be tried for war crimes for going after him.

That makes no sense.

shekinah · 01-05-2007, 05:33 PM

It's too late for him now.. If the study was done before.. history will change again and again.

Babaganoosh · 01-05-2007, 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by webair

WOW i am not the only intelligent humanitarian on the board! i agree!!! What good does it do us to kill anyone I think its an antiquated concept personally. I agree with ADL we should pick his brain and see how we can learn from the monster.

ADL colin I like you hit me up for some free hosting =))

Intelligent humanitarian is an oxymoron. Just being a human doesn't earn you the right to die a natural death. Ask any of the thousands of people Hussein killed.

Perhaps someday someone you love will be murdered and you will see the light.

Kimmykim · 01-05-2007, 08:32 PM

Putting him on trial for committing genocide against the Kurds would have helped to give that people some closure as well.

The only problem with leaving him locked up for life is that his people would never have rested with him behind bars. It would possibly have been more of an issue with keeping him locked up than the ensuing strife that will occur now that he's dead.

01-05-2007, 02:51 PM	#1
ADL Colin Too lazy to set a custom title Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Tube Titans, USA Posts: 11,929	Saddam should have been studied, not executed Interesting article http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/...,5577883.story Saddam should have been studied, not executed Sparing Hussein and studying his makeup could have provided valuable research. By Richard Dawkins, RICHARD DAWKINS, an evolutionary biologist, is a professor at Oxford University. He is the author of many books including, most recently, "The Ancestor's Tale" and "The God Delusion." January 4, 2007 THE OBVIOUS objections to the execution of Saddam Hussein are valid and well aired. His death will provoke violent strife between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, and between Iraqis in general and the American occupation forces. This was an opportunity to set a good example of civilized behavior in dealing with a barbarically uncivilized man. In any case, revenge is an ignoble motive. If President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair are eventually put on trial for war crimes, I shall not be among those pressing for them to be hanged. But I want to add another and less obvious objection: Hussein's mind would have been a unique resource for historical, political and psychological research, a resource that is now forever unavailable to scholars. Imagine that some science-fiction equivalent of Simon Wiesenthal built a time machine, traveled back to 1945 and returned to the present with a manacled Adolf Hitler. What should we do with him? Execute him? No, a thousand times no. Historians squabbling over exactly what happened in the Third Reich and World War II would never forgive us for destroying the central witness to all the inside stories, and one of the pivotal influences on 20th century history. Psychologists, struggling to understand how an individual human being could be so evil and so devastatingly effective at persuading others to join him, would give their eyeteeth for such a rich research subject. Kill Hitler? You would have to be mad to do so. Yet that is undoubtedly what we would have done if he hadn't killed himself in 1945. Hussein is not in the same league as Hitler, but, nevertheless, in a small way his execution represents a wanton and vandalistic destruction of important research data. He should have been locked up, by all means. Kept him in jail for the rest of his life, to be sure. But to execute him was irresponsible. Hussein could have provided irreplaceable help to future historians of the Iran-Iraq war, of the invasion of Kuwait and of the subsequent era of sanctions culminating in the invasion. Uniquely privileged evidence on the American government's enthusiastic arming of Hussein in the 1980s is now snuffed out at the tug of a rope (no doubt to the relief of Donald Rumsfeld and other guilty parties; it is surely no accident that the trial of Hussein neglected those of his crimes that might ? no, would ? have implicated them). Political scientists of the future, studying the processes by which unscrupulous leaders arise and take over national institutions, have now lost key evidence forever. But perhaps the most important research in which a living Saddam Hussein could have helped is psychological. Most people can't even come close to understanding how any man could be so cruel as Hitler or Hussein, or how such transparently evil monsters could secure sufficient support to take over an entire country. What were the formative influences on these men? Was it something in their childhood that turned them bad? In their genes? In their testosterone levels? Could the danger have been nipped in the bud by an alert psychiatrist? How would Hitler or Hussein have responded to a different style of education? We don't have a clear answer to these questions. We need to do the research. Are there lots of Husseins and lots of Hitlers in every society, with most ending up as football hooligans wrecking trains rather than dictators wrecking countries? If so, what singles out the minority that do come to power? Or were men such as these truly unusual? What can we do to prevent them gaining power in the future? Are there changes we could make to our political institutions that would make it harder for men of Hitler's or Hussein's psychological types to take them over? These questions are not just academically fascinating but potentially of vital importance for our future. And they cannot be answered by prejudice or preconception or intuitive common sense. The only way to answer them is by research. It is in the nature of research on ruthless national dictators that the sample size is small. Wasn't the judicial destruction of one of the very few research subjects we had ? and a prime specimen at that ? an act of vandalism? __________________ Adult Date Link - $50 PPS starting NOW! -- good and JUICY! skype = "adultdatelink"

01-05-2007, 03:41 PM	#2
dready Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Toronto, ON Posts: 5,247	That's exactly why he was killed. If he was studied, more facts would come out about his history. __________________ ICQ: 91139591

01-05-2007, 03:44 PM	#3
Babaganoosh ♥♥♥ Likes Hugs ♥♥♥ Industry Role: Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: /home Posts: 15,841	An autopsy could be considered studying him. That's good enough for me. __________________ I like pie.

01-05-2007, 04:48 PM	#4
webair Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: NYC, NY Posts: 8,531	WOW i am not the only intelligent humanitarian on the board! i agree!!! What good does it do us to kill anyone I think its an antiquated concept personally. I agree with ADL we should pick his brain and see how we can learn from the monster. ADL colin I like you hit me up for some free hosting =)) __________________ ~ Webair Dedicated Cloud Servers™ ~ WEBAIR VSYS™ Virtual Hosting Platform ~ Superior CDN Network ~ ~ Managed Dedicated hosting Specialists ~ DISCOUNT DOMAIN NAMES! ~ WEBAIR FUSION IO MANAGED CLOUD SERVERS! ~ *ICQ:* 243116321 - *TWITTER* - @WEBAIRINC - E-Mail: [email protected]

01-05-2007, 05:03 PM	#7
who So Fucking Banned Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: ICQ #23642053 Posts: 19,593	There is NEVER any reason to kill a human being. NEVER. http://www.husseinhanging.com I got fucking sent some kind of package with chemicals in it ( thought it was anthrax or something shame on me) for running this shitty site. All the people with 'opinions' are fucking mental. Last edited by who; 01-05-2007 at 05:04 PM..

01-05-2007, 05:00 PM	#5
VicD ICQ: 304-611-162 Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Masterdam Posts: 13,245	it's too late for studying

01-05-2007, 05:21 PM	#14
Agent 488 Registered User Industry Role: Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 22,511	science has no tools to study the mysteries of the human soul ....

01-05-2007, 05:25 PM	#15
DaddyHalbucks A freakin' legend! Industry Role: Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Las Vegas, Nevada USA Posts: 18,975	So Hussein is a Hitler-like monster... but Bush and Blair might be tried for war crimes for going after him. That makes no sense. __________________ Boner Money

01-05-2007, 05:33 PM	#16
shekinah Confirmed User Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 8,452	It's too late for him now.. If the study was done before.. history will change again and again. __________________ [Web Design \| Development \| Programming \| Content Writing ] ICQ: 238-890-469

01-05-2007, 08:32 PM	#18
Kimmykim bitchslapping zebras!!!!! Industry Role: Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: In a shack by the beach Posts: 16,015	Putting him on trial for committing genocide against the Kurds would have helped to give that people some closure as well. The only problem with leaving him locked up for life is that his people would never have rested with him behind bars. It would possibly have been more of an issue with keeping him locked up than the ensuing strife that will occur now that he's dead.