SKIRMISHER

We all know that Saddam will be hanged in February, unless some of his old “magic” resurfaces and he convinces an appeals court that he is, in fact, as innocent as a newborn lamb. But for those who might be wondering, for some deep voyeuristic reason, how exactly are they going to hang him, Slate luridly describes the event in scientific detail.

The same way they hanged criminals 100 years ago. The trick to a successful hanging is to have the victim drop an appropriate distance through a trapdoor before the rope goes taut against his neck. If he drops too far, he’ll have picked up so much speed that the noose might decapitate him. If he doesn’t drop far enough, he could remain conscious as he slowly strangles to death. But if you get the “drop” just right, the knot of the noose will snap against his neck—and either kill him or knock him unconscious.

The last major innovation in hanging occurred toward the end of the 19th century, when executioners first developed a systematic way to calculate the drop. Once these “drop tables” were published, a hangman knew that he’d need 7 feet for a slight, 120-pound criminal, but only about 4 feet for a 200-pounder.

Hanging works a bit differently in other countries. In Japan, the gallows come equipped with three trapdoor switches, only one of which is actually connected. Three guards participate in the execution, but no one knows which one is actually responsible. In Iran, hangings are conducted by hoisting criminals slowly from the ground with a mobile crane connected to a nylon noose. Iranian hangings can take half an hour to complete.

If it were up to me, I’d just hand Saddam over to his best friends, the Shi’ites in Dujail. I’m sure they’d have wonderful ideas on how best to give him the affection and pampering he quite deserves.

via SLATE

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