Well, I’m positive that the violence will get worse if he’s executed because it will be seen as the shia/kurdish government executing a sunni leader. It will aggravate sectarian tensions. If Saddam were to be given a life sentence then he would be held by the Iraqis and so there would be no hijackings or attacks against us, especially if we get our troops out soon. It’s not that he doesn’t deserve to die, but I don’t think Iraq could cope with the repercussions of his execution.
What is obscene about this whole affair is that Rumsfeld and Cheney were helping Saddam in the 1980s but they will never be held to account for the role they played in arming and financing Saddam.