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It should come as no surprise that the instructions for a long drop hanging are available on the internet. Remember, kids: Consult the 1913 table of drops before every execution.

In qualified defense of the Iraqis' hanging error, making the rope too long, which is what caused Barzan's falling body to build up so much momentum that the noose caught his neck with enough force to take his head off, is at least preferable, from the point of view of the condemned, to the error in the other direction. Making the rope too short, so that the body doesn't build up enough momentum to break the neck, leads to a slow death by suffocation.

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Iraq