>> ^jwray:
He survived the video, but without a hospital he wouldn't survive the day. It looked like he got at least a severe concussion and might have a cracked skull and a broken neck.

A snuff film shows the actual death of a human being. No "what ifs" involved. Close calls are amazing to watch and a lot of very popular videos would have to be removed from this site if we followed that speculative "could have died" approach

He survived the video, but without a hospital he wouldn't survive the day. It looked like he got at least a severe concussion and might have a cracked skull and a broken neck.

That's... chilling. Anybody know what happened to him? Not the best thing for a broken neck or back.

Well said, oilcan.

And see below...perhaps both videos are historically newsworthy?

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Iraq govt to probe filming of Saddam hanging
Mon Jan 1, 2007 3:27 PM ET

By Mussab Al-Khairalla and Alastair Macdonald

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The Iraqi government launched an inquiry on Monday into how guards filmed and taunted Saddam Hussein on the gallows, turning his execution into a televised spectacle that has inflamed sectarian anger.

A senior Iraqi official told Reuters the U.S. ambassador tried to persuade Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki not to rush into hanging the former president just four days after his appeal was turned down, urging the government two wait another two weeks.

News of the ousted strongman's death on Saturday and of his treatment by officials of the Shi'ite-led government was blamed by one witness for sparking a prison riot among mainly Sunni Arab inmates at a jail near the northern city of Mosul.

An adviser to Maliki, Sami al-Askari, told Reuters: "There were a few guards who shouted slogans that were inappropriate and that's now the subject of a government investigation."

The government released video showing the hangman chatting to a composed Saddam as he placed the noose round his neck.

But mobile phone footage on the Web showed guards shouting "Go to hell!", chanting the name of a Shi'ite militia leader and exchanging insults with Saddam before he fell through the trap in mid-prayer and his body swung, broken-necked, on the rope. More from Reuters.

Ladybug makes a good point. We can always apply the imprimitur of "historical weight" when justifying either a guy hanging with a broken neck or a guy with pieces of his skull blown into the air.

Video of Mussolini being crucified upside down and dragged through the streets doesn't belong on the Sift. I don't think the Zapruder film without any other context belongs either. Even though both are historically momentous.

The Saddam execution video qualifies as objectionable because its only purpose is to show a killing. Or maybe the amazing things you can get with a cellphone these days. I can see the Verizon commercial now.