"The fact remains that killing Saddam can only be considered an act of revenge"

Yup. What's wrong with revenge? Tastes very, very sweet. If he'd raped and killed your five year-old daughter, would you pat him on the head and say "I forgive you"? Of course not, you'd want his balls on a plate - i.e. revenge!

Ordinarily, I'd say "hang the bastard", but not on this occasion. My objection to hanging him has nothing to do with disliking revenge - it's simply that, by hanging him, another martyr will be created for Muslim loonies to use as an excuse to kill and maim innocent people. And throwing him in the nick to 'think about what he's done' won't make him change his ideas one iota - he **knows** he's done nothing wrong - but it will keep him from harming anyone else.