Hang 'em all

Not sharing the triumph of these (and many more) Shi'ites, already holding a mock funeral, the "colleagues" were always going to get worked up, committed as they are to world-wide abolition of the death penalty.

Thus it is that the EU yesterday urged Iraq not to carry out the death sentence passed on Iraq's former dictator Saddam Hussein after his conviction for crimes against humanity. "The EU opposes capital punishment in all cases and under all circumstances, and it should not be carried out in this case either," the Finnish presidency said.

Grudgingly, it managed to add a condemnation of, "the systematic, widespread and extremely grave violations of human rights and of international humanitarian law committed by the regime of Saddam Hussein". One gets the impression, though, that the EU regards the death penalty as the greater violation.

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