I think we have to consider other countries methods and laws. Be it euthanasia or by lethal injection, hanging, beheading, electrocution and so on. It�s hard for British people to comprehend that some Countries adopt the eye for an eye principle, so yes we are shocked to see such videos as are readily available to view of his demise because it is contrary to our laws. Saddam was found guilty and the punishment according to the laws of his land was hanging. To the Iraqi people then this was the normal means of punishment. I feel it very unfair that his hangmen and the aids were chosen from be the sect that were Saddam�s enemies and yes I do feel it unfortunate that he was subjected to the indignities that he saw and heard in his final moments. It would have been better to have brought in someone from another country to have given him a more dignified send off. I was never a Saddam lover but he did deserve to die with dignity around him and not necessarily to be receiving the ridicule that he received. It is not his death that will fuel more war and bloodshed � it is the hangman and the people who are recorded on film and how they acted and what they said that will create a bigger void and even more warfare. He did die with dignity which is more than I can say for those responsible in ending his life. As you say, Pierrepoint could despatch someone quickly and silently and with an element of dignity and almost reverence and respect for a person however crass the person�s crimes were. To have seen Saddam�s execution filmed in silence and showing dignity and respect o the person about to die would have scored more points psychologically to me than what I have seen.