The Execution of Saddam Hussein

"The process of bringing Saddam Hussein to justice for his horrific crimes against his own people has come to its conclusion.  Saddam Hussein was executed today after being convicted and sentenced to death by the Iraqi High Tribunal for the massacres committed by his regime in the Iraqi town of Dujayl.  An Iraqi appellate court upheld the death sentence ruling Tuesday.  Saddam Hussein received the due process rights that he denied the Iraqi people.

The true cruelty of Saddam Hussein's regime cannot be forgotten.  When I traveled to Iraq in October 2003, I personally saw this brutality when I visited a mass grave outside Al Hillah where nearly 3,000 Shiites were massacred in 1991- a fraction of the more than 300,000 that were killed by the dictator in just that year. 

Today, these victims received a small measure of justice for the acts of torture and murder that Saddam Hussein ordered against them and their families.  While Iraq has much work ahead as it builds a society that equally protects its citizens, the Iraqi government has taken an important step forward on the path to this goal."