# Why did the hangman put a scarf around Saddam's neck? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 31, 2006, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-hangman-put-a-scarf-around-saddams-neck/386170 "2006-12-31T02:11:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sonia\_Montdore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Sonia\_Montdore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonia_Montdore)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2006, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-hangman-put-a-scarf-around-saddams-neck/386170/1 "2006-12-31T02:11:26Z")
This story from ABC News [http://blogs.abcnews.com/bizarrebazaar/2006/12/saddams\_hanging.html#comment-27102907](http://blogs.abcnews.com/bizarrebazaar/2006/12/saddams_hanging.html#comment-27102907) states that the executioner put a scarf around Saddam’s neck before the noose was placed there. Why did he do that? ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2006, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-hangman-put-a-scarf-around-saddams-neck/386170/2 "2006-12-31T02:17:10Z")
I think its standard procedure, just like they swab your arm with alcohol before lethal injections. :dubious: I’m not sure what a hanging does to the outside of the neck, but I assume it’s to prevent showing blood, or the disfigurement afterwards to viewers. ---
**Author:** ![2gigch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2gigch1/32/3313_2.png) [@2gigch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2gigch1)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2006, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-hangman-put-a-scarf-around-saddams-neck/386170/3 "2006-12-31T02:17:18Z")
WAG: The rope and fall from the hanging would probaly break the skin and be a bloody mess. The scarf probably prevented this. After all, I presume the Iraqis have a number of people versed in the art of hanging, given Saddam’s history. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2006, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-hangman-put-a-scarf-around-saddams-neck/386170/4 "2006-12-31T02:50:05Z")
[QUOTE=2gigch1] WAG: The rope and fall from the hanging would probaly break the skin and be a bloody mess. The scarf probably prevented this. [/QUOTE] This is spot on. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2006, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-hangman-put-a-scarf-around-saddams-neck/386170/5 "2006-12-31T02:50:09Z")
if I can’t be hanged with a kicky accessory, I’m not going quietly. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2006, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-hangman-put-a-scarf-around-saddams-neck/386170/6 "2006-12-31T02:50:58Z")
[QUOTE=2gigch1] WAG: The rope and fall from the hanging would probaly break the skin and be a bloody mess. The scarf probably prevented this. [/QUOTE] [Yup.](http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/31/world/middleeast/31gallows.html?hp&ex=1167541200&en=5db66dae7cb12d0e&ei=5094&partner=homepage) > [@](#): > > The executioners offered him a hood. He refused. They explained that the thick rope could cut through his neck and offered to use the scarf he had worn earlier to keep that from happening. Mr. Hussein accepted. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2006, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-hangman-put-a-scarf-around-saddams-neck/386170/7 "2006-12-31T03:02:16Z")
[QUOTE=Eve] if I can’t be hanged with a kicky accessory, I’m not going quietly. [/QUOTE] Did you see the scarf? It was a far cry from kicky. Looked a bit like a neoprene hand towel. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2006, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-hangman-put-a-scarf-around-saddams-neck/386170/8 "2006-12-31T03:21:49Z")
> [@](#): > > The executioners offered him a hood. He refused. I assumed they didn’t use a hood because the Iraqi People had to see it was really Saddam. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2006, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-hangman-put-a-scarf-around-saddams-neck/386170/9 "2006-12-31T03:52:06Z")
I couldn’t tell from the clip on CNN, but did the Iraqis use a long drop (which would snap his neck) or a short drop (causing strangulation)? ---
**Author:** ![KSO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@KSO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KSO)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2006, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-hangman-put-a-scarf-around-saddams-neck/386170/10 "2006-12-31T04:43:49Z")
Based on the photo of his body in the body bag, I’m guessing a long drop. His head seemed to be at a peculiar angle. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2006, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-hangman-put-a-scarf-around-saddams-neck/386170/11 "2006-12-31T14:47:12Z")
One poor quality video (looks like a guy with a cell phone camera or low-end consumer camera) shows the drop, then blackness as the videographer scrambles for position, and then the body swinging. The head is definitely out of position, and he was definitely dead. Also, even on the CNN video I saw earlier you could see that there was a good amount of rope hanging loose for a long drop. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2006, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-hangman-put-a-scarf-around-saddams-neck/386170/12 "2006-12-31T14:48:43Z")
Just a thought: instead of a scarf, why wouldn’t someone have had a _Survivor_ buff? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2006, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-hangman-put-a-scarf-around-saddams-neck/386170/13 "2006-12-31T14:50:03Z")
‘Why _couldn’t_…’ It’s hard to be glib before coffee. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2006, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-hangman-put-a-scarf-around-saddams-neck/386170/14 "2006-12-31T14:51:05Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] I assumed they didn’t use a hood because the Iraqi People had to see it was really Saddam. [/QUOTE] According to the news articles I read, it was Saddam’s decision - he refused the hood. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2006, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-hangman-put-a-scarf-around-saddams-neck/386170/15 "2006-12-31T15:05:03Z")
[QUOTE=Canadjun] According to the news articles I read, it was Saddam’s decision - he refused the hood. [/QUOTE] Yes, I quoted that part. That’s what surprised me. Until I read the quote upthread I thought the executioners intentionally withheld a hood.