The point of an execution is that it is punishment for something you did, not entertainment. Yes, I have heard the determent argument, but usually someone's fate doesn't deter others for doing the same thing.
In any case, I'm glad that this charade that was costing us a lot of cash is over. We obvioulsy had to stage it to make us feel we were imparting justice - which in the case of old Saddam, as it is with any petty tyrant, there really is no way to impart. A bullet through the head would've done nicely a couple of years ago and we would've saved a lot.