Spare Saddam?

Cardinal Renato Martino, head of the Vatican's Justice and Peace department, said he hopes former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein will be spared execution, citing the Church's opposition to the death penalty.

My thoughts are that this is a chance to "lead by example" as opposed to the current policy of "do as I say or else" by both the Iraqis and the United States. It "may" show the "terrorists" (both in the middle east and in the white house) that violence needn't beget violence. Its an opportunity to show that both the U.S. and the new Iraqi leadership are indeed better. than Saddam and others like him. To execute him would only serve as fodder for the enemy, showing that their way is correct, that "might makes right," a dangerous lesson we shouldn't and needn't pursue.