Off With Their Heads...

"Iraqi government officials have shown journalists video of the hanging of two of Saddam Hussein's aides, during which one of the men was decapitated.

The film shows Barzan Ibrahim - Saddam Hussein's half-brother - and Awad Hamed al-Bandar hanged side-by-side.

Barzan, former intelligence chief, and al-Bandar, former head of Iraq's Revolutionary Court, were convicted over the killing of 148 Shias in 1982.

The government said Barzan's beheading was accidental.

The latest hangings drew expressions of concern from among the international community.

Speaking on a visit to Egypt, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said while the executions were an Iraqi process, "we were disappointed there was not greater dignity given to the accused under these circumstances".

The UK prime minister's spokesman said it was "clearly wrong" if the executions had not been carried out in a dignified way.

Others called for the Iraqi authorities to end further executions and focus on national reconciliation.

Hoods

The BBC's Andrew North in Baghdad says the video first shows both men being prepared for execution standing next to each other.

They were both dressed in orange boiler suits.

Executioners in balaclavas placed hoods round both men's heads, then the noose.

A short while later the footage, which is silent, shows both men fall.

Almost immediately the rope that was round Barzan's neck flicks upwards, the body dropping below.

The cameraman then shows the pit below and a headless body, bloodied at the neck and what officials say was Barzan's head still covered by a hood.

Al-Bandar's body was still hanging above, said one official who was present at the execution.

Our correspondent says officials say they are not planning to release the footage publicly.

The two men were later buried near Saddam Hussein's grave in the former Iraqi leader's home village of Awja about 180 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad."

Yes. Condi was disappointed that murdering thugs weren't treated with greater dignity. Begging your pardon, Madam Secretary, but since when did dignity become so important when dealing with mad dogs? She disappoints me in either not knowing that swift and fatal retribution is necessary to rid the world of the butchers of humanity, or cognizant of how the real world works, STILL would wish them to be sent to eternity with a hug and a tickle.