Is this death penalty any different?

I have really been contemplating my navel following the death sentence on Saddam Hussein this week. But I do think William Hague is absolutely right to say that we should not interfere with Iraqi justice on the issue, whatever our own position.

Before this decision I have always been against the death penalty, I cannot get to grips with how it can be right for the state to sentence a man to death when it is wrong for a man within that state to commit murder. However, there is a big part of me that feels that a murderous tyrant like Saddam is better off dead than he is alive. The difficulty then comes with where you draw the line - how do you decide the point of severity beyond which a murderer dies?

I still don't know how to think on this, I just thought I would post my musings for once instead of one of my usual rants.