If you have been following the Right Wing Blogs' campaign against an AP report of a November burning of a mosque in Iraq where 6 Iraqis died, you wil have learned that the campaign was discredited today when the Iraqi Interior ministry admitted that AP's source did exist.

But what is interesting to me is why did this story of literally hundreds of reports of Iraqis being killed cause such a stir? I suppose it was because the US military and the Iraqi interior ministry denied that AP's source Jamil Hussein, worked for the Iraqi police. But the AP strongly and unequivocally stood by its story and insisted Hussein not only existed, but was in fact an Iraqi police officer, even naming the station where he worked.

The Right Blog campaign on this always struck me as odd, to say the least. It seems hard to understand why AP would manufacture a story of violence in Iraq. Did the Right think there was not enough true stories of Iraqi violence?

Which gets to my point. Forget about the decision to go to Iraq, whether intelligence was ginned up, no WMD, corners turned, purple fingers and all the rest, can the Right NOT accept the mess that Iraq is now? Is the Right incapable of accepting reality? More.

Iraqi officials says they have made an arrest in the investigation into who recorded a video Saddam Hussein's execution on a cell phone.

The adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, did not identify the person. But he said it was "an official who supervised the execution" and who is "now under investigation."

Cell phones were confiscated before the execution. They believe some were smuggled in by bodyguards of those present.

Munqith al-Faroon, an Iraqi prosecutor present at the execution says he witnessed two observers using their cell phones to take pictures of the execution. He didn't know them by name but says he could identify them.

There's been a lot of writing about the 3,000th death of a U.S. soldier in Iraq. But, take a look at who he was and see if it doesn't really bring home the stupidity of this war and the perceived lack of choices facing some of our youths.

Dustin Donica, 22, an army specialist from the 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment....[was] a soccer-loving college dropout from Texas with a weakness for trance music and ham-and-pineapple pizza....

Bump and Update: The AP is now reporting there have been 3,000 deaths of U.S. soldiers in Iraq.

*******
Original Post
2,999th Soldier Killed in Iraq

Another soldier was killed in Iraq today, bringing the total number of troop deaths to 2,999.

The soldier was also the 110th to die so far in December, the deadliest month for the U.S. forces in more than two years.

....A toll of 3,000 U.S. dead is likely to be an emotive one for Americans but it is less than the number of Iraqi civilians killed in a typical single month in the latter part of 2006, according to the most recent statistics from the
United Nations.

The Guardian has this obituary for Saddam Hussein. The Times Online has another. The BBC obituary is here.

President Bush stayed up past his bedtime to release this statement insisting falsely that Saddam got a fair trial.

Worst headline: From Australia, "Iraqis Dance as Saddam Swings".

European leaders focus their comments on the death penalty.

Now what? More war, as usual, more U.S. soldiers will die, more billions of our dollars will be spent and we are not one bit safer.

We are all tainted by the vengeance in our name.

Joel Layden of the Israel News Agency:

Many news media are now reporting on the fine details of what is a hanging. Providing minute by minute accounts of what would happen if the rope was too short or too long. Are we as a civilized Western world any different from the crowds that gathered to watch the French Guillotine at work or the hangman's noose in the old US West?

What distinguishes us from the Islamic terrorists that we fight is that we cherish life.
Yes, in war we can be more barbaric using pyschops as good if not better than the enemy by hanging blood dripping heads on wooden sticks. But do we need now to place Saddam's head on a wooden stick? Will video of his hanging decrease conflict or increase it in the Middle-East?

Arab TV reports Saddam Hussein was executed ten minutes ago.

U.S. military deaths in Iraq hit 2,993 today.

Saddam's death won't bring one of them back.

11:50 pm MT: Witnesses say it was quick.

"It was very quick. He died right away," one of the official Iraqi witnesses said. The former president's face was uncovered, he appeared calm and said a brief prayer as Iraqi policemen walked him to the gallows and put the noose round him, the witness said.

10:00 pm MT: Saddam has been hanged.

8:00 pm MT: Saddam has arrived at execution site. The hanging will take place within minutes.

7:51 pm: Final arrangements are in place.

Saddam Hussein will be hooded with hands tied behind his back. Government and religious officials, a lawyer and a doctor will act as witnesses. The execution will be filmed to provide proof of his death.

7:05 pm. A federal judge in DC has denied Saddam's request for stay. You heard it here first. Here's the order.

7:00 pm MT: CNN reports Iraqi officials say he will hang within the hour.

6:33 pm MT: AP is reporting (incorrectly) Saddam's request for stay has been denied. It's not showing on the court docket sheet yet, I'll upload the order when it appears. CNN just confirms the AP was wrong, there has been no ruling.

Amnesty International after the death verdict of Saddam Hussein:

"This trial should have been a major contribution toward establishing justice and the rule of law in Iraq, and in ensuring truth and accountability for the massive human rights violations perpetrated by Saddam Hussein's rule," said Malcolm Smart, director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme. "In practice, it has been a shabby affair, marred by serious flaws that call into question the capacity of the tribunal, as currently established, to administer justice fairly, in conformity with international standards."

The AP is reporting:

A top Iraqi official said Saddam will be executed before 6 a.m. Saturday, Baghdad time, or 10 p.m. Friday EST.

I'm checking the District of Columbia docket and as of 5:17 pm, there has been no order issued on the stay of execution request yet.

I have uploaded the stay request here.

With Saddam's execution set for hours from now, I'm going to switch to a single execution watch thread, rather than keep posting separate entries.

Saddam Hussein's lawyers filed a motion for stay of execution in federal court in DC today.

Here is the 21 page petition (pdf).

News coverage here.

Update: The federal judge in DC has denied Saddam's request for stay. You heard it here first. Here's the order.

Update: Saddam's lawyer Giovanni diStephano is on CNN right now (from Rome) saying that a petition for a temporary restraining order has been filed in federal court in DC to prevent Saddam's turnover to Iraqi authorities. It has been assigned to Judge Sullivan.

Via Raw Story and AFP:

An anonymous lawyer for Saddam was now claiming Hussein will be executed on Saturday at dawn.

I'm not buying the U.S. denial and claim that Saddam remains in U.S. custody:

Raising the tension, US authorities also cancelled a planned meeting on Saturday between Saddam and his defense team, lawyer Issam Ghazawi told AFP. "I just received an email from US authorities in Baghdad in which a security official said it has been decided to cancel our visit planned for Saturday in Baghdad with president Saddam Hussein," Ghazawi said.

"We can't have you in Baghdad tomorrow. We cannot provide any protection for you. You can't see Saddam because he is not in our physical custody anymore," said the email according to Ghazawi, who read it by phone to an AFP reporter.

The White House is denying responsibility for the execution: