Well, I debated about replying on this post for a while. I don't know if I can quite get my feelings across without coming off as rude, so I’ll be brief.
For those of you who are so upset the video was posted and allowed to be posted here, in my opinion you need to get over it. Like has been said before, no one forced you to click the link, and if you choose not to, that's your choice, but denying, or advocating the denial, of that choice to others is OUTRAGEOUS! Some of you are the same people that advocate freedom of speech and religion and choice all the time, and now that it's a choice you disagree with you're crying foul and want to deny others that choice of their own? That's the very definition of hypocritical.
You don't believe it should be shown, that's fine. You think it’s wrong the mods allowed it, that's fine. But advocating that others should never have been given the opportunity to make that choice on their own is not only hypocritical, but is just as ominous and despotic as denying people the right to choose their religion, to be openly gay, to serve in the military, or to hold their own political beliefs.
Those of you who I’m describing should seriously reconsider whether or not you are serious advocates of freedom, or just the flip side of the coin. I applaud the moderators for their decision on this. I think it is the right one. They too, had an opinion, that they did not want the material hosted on JUB servers, but realized that they could not make the choice that no one should see it for everyone here. So they came to the conclusion they did, and i believe it to be the most righteous one they could have come up with.
Now as to the video itself, it's not that graphic at all. There's no blood, no gore. The floor drops out and it's over. There is a close up of Saddam's face as he's hanging (at which point he is already dead). His body is motionless; it's not swinging or some other horrid idea of a hanging.
As stated before this type of hanging causes instant death. At the apex of the fall, he died.
And I believe as reported
here, his last word was "Muhammad", as he was in the second iteration of a prayer at the time the floor dropped.