I resisted the use of "BREAKING" because this will no doubt be diaried to death today.
here's the story on CNN
I'll copy portions of it below with comments so as not to annoy those that uphold to the letter directive #6 in the posting instructions.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The Iraqi High Tribunal's appellate chamber on Tuesday upheld Saddam Hussein's death sentence in the Dujail massacre case, Judge Aref Shaheen announced.
Shaheen said the court's decision was the final word in the case.
The toppled Iraqi dictator's execution must take place before January 27, Shaheen said. Iraqi law requires a death sentence to be carried out within 30 days. (Watch to see how Hussein's legal options are waning Video)
In November, Hussein was sentenced to death by hanging for his role in the 1982 killings of 148 people in Dujail, a mostly Shiite town north of Baghdad.
Hussein's chief defense attorney, Khalil al-Dulaimi, said he had heard about the decision, but said it came from "an illegitimate and unconstitutional court."
"We are not surprised by this crazy ruling," al-Dulaimi said.
The timing is a little strange, I would have expected a trial held in the green zone by the United States er, I mean Iraqi system of justice to hand down a verdict like this on election eve.
Hussein and two co-defendants -- his half-brother and former intelligence chief Barzan Hassan, and Awad Bandar, former chief judge of the Revolutionary Court -- were found guilty in the killings in Dujail after an attempt to assassinate the then-Iraqi leader.
Hussein and others are being tried in another case -- the killings of up to 100,000 Kurds during the 1988 Anfal campaign against Kurdish rebels, which included the use of poison gas against Kurdish towns in northern Iraq.
However, Shaheen said Hussein's involvement in that case would cease with his execution.
If your head just exploded it's because you read that right - he will not be involved in the Kurd massacre trial because he will be, ummm , dead by then. Phew! He narrowly escaped being hung for an even bigger crime there.
The number of U.S. military personnel killed in the Iraq war stands at 2,977, including seven civilian contractors of the Defense Department, pushing the death toll above that of the September 11, 2001, attacks. An estimated 2,973 people were killed in the attacks on New York, the Pentagon and Pennsylvania.
A fitting reminder, it cost the U.S. Military 2,977 lives to pull one sad little fucker out of a hole, defenseless against the army marching on his capital because he HAD NO WEAPONS TO USE AGAINST THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry 'bout that... I get kinda pissed off when I think of how many good men and women sacrificed their lives so Georgie could get his revenge.
I'll gladly delete if this is done by other, more eloquent diarists.