Conveniently, the verdict was handed down on the Sunday before the U.S. election.
Not surprisingly, the Shias and the Sunnis in Iraq are divided about it, and actually, both sides have valid points.
Said one Shia scholar: “Saddam Hussein was responsible for the brutal massacre of hundreds of thousands of Shia Muslims in Iraq. Even a hundred death sentences would not be enough for him.”
And a Sunni religious leader: “It is not a court verdict; it simply demonstrates the high-handedness of the President George Bush who had personal scores to settle with Saddam Hussein.”