[Gareth]

Here's an interesting article from the Grauniad about the whole Saddam GooTube affair...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1981081,00.html

Was Saddam's death dignified?

On the surface, of course not. An ageing man with a grey beard stands, looking bemused, beneath a makeshift gibbet while his enemies taunt him. As he is saying a final prayer, the trapdoor is suddenly released and he plunges to his death, a brief expression of surprise registering on his face as the floor gives way.
...
Saddam's killers have achieved the impossible: they have made us feel sympathy for him, for his grace under pressure. There may not have been dignity in the dying, but there was courage. A five-star death.

Well said, imo