While standing around at the Winter activities fair at Norris, recruiting new staffers, we asked passersby to blog their opinions about a controversial current event: the Saddam Hussein hanging video.
 | “I wanted to watch it as soon as I heard about it. But, I had to turn it off when it showed his face, after he was hanged. ” -Andre Francisco, Medill sophomore and NBN managing editor |
 | “The cell phone broadcast video sums up the lack of basic human rights exercised in Iraq. If Iraq can conduct a ‘fair’ judicial trial, they sure as well can respect human rights and go about the execution with a certain amount of dignity. In my opinion, the video wasn’t really as gruesome as it was made out to me. What horrified me was the extent of the Shia – Sunni divide as demonstrated by the taunts from the audience and a sectarian divide that only looks to be deepening”. -Manan Arora, Weinberg freshman |
 | “I watched the video as a historical experience, to say that I saw history in the making. While some people may have thought that the footage was too graphic for public viewing, I think it is an important part of history that people should see.” –Connor Kobeski, Weinberg freshman |
Declined to be photographed | “I thought it was completely barbaric, and of the same standards that they were condemning Hussein for. It’s bad enough to be hanging someone in the first place, but to actually film it and circulate the footage online is even more terrible and disturbing.” –Katharine Kosin, Weinberg freshman |
 | “I thought it was horrible and really pathetic to air it on international television.” — Mandavi Kanchan, McCormick sophomore |
