| Submit your comments on this article | |
| Iraq-Jordan | |
| Dictator's first day in court fascinated observers (Quiz!) | |
| 2004-07-03 | |
Jordan Times Editorial, July 2 "The former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's first day in court marks the start of a tortuous legal and political process that could bring to the surface not only revelations about his alleged crimes against humanity, war crimes or genocide, but also how he rose to power and which countries, especially in the west, helped him consolidate his grip on power. The trial of the former Iraqi leader and 11 of his closest aides is ... also about the role some western capitals had in providing the Iraqi regime with the means to wage wars against Iran and Kuwait and use chemical weapons against its own people ... "In essence, the process will try the entire international community for allowing [these] things ... to happen in the first place ... The trials in Baghdad are a showcase for national, regional and international justice. It is hoped that justice will be served." Gulf News Editorial, United Arab Emirates, July 2 "[It] got off to a bad start, with the authorities releasing a film of some of the hearing, with the sound erased. Iraqis were expected to lip-read Saddam to find out what was happening. Even more confusing was a change of heart when the authorities started some damage control and eventually allowed the sound to be heard on some sections ... "What [the] hearing showed was that in the first flush of the handover ... the new rulers of Iraq were continuing the secretive methods of the coalition. A new chapter of the new Iraq should begin with this trial, showing everyone that the new government will conduct a free, fair, transparent trial of Saddam and his henchmen ... Iraq must conduct the rest of this trial in the full glow of publicity. It must set the tone for the future." Arab News Editorial, Saudi Arabia, July 2 "Nothing about the fallen dictator's defiant behaviour should surprise anyone. Of course he does not admit the right of the court to judge him. He never in his long and wicked political career accepted the rule of law. His contempt for the proceedings was therefore completely predictable. He knows that he is fighting for his life. The man who postured so much on the world stage intends to make the most of the opportunity to grandstand and protest in open court ... "It is not simply the arrogant and unrepentant Saddam and his cronies who are on trial ... Between now and the end of the judicial process that will lay bare the depravities of Saddam's rule, virtually all Iraqis are likely to say to each other, many times over: 'Never again'. With that conviction must come the clear realisation that it will only be through compromise and tolerance that a strong and decent new Iraq can be built." Daily News Editorial, New York, July 2 "There he was, back with the same old bluster. Saddam's recovered bravado, to be sure, is directly a result of his American captors having provided him with a warm bed and three squares a day and dental care and whatnot these past seven months ... "So begins what is bound to be one of the great courtroom carnivals of our time, as newly sovereign Iraq, unfortunately pretty much devoid of a solidly-in-place judicial infrastructure, wrestles with the matter of criminally trying a man who insists that he still runs the country in the first place and who maintains that not himself but George Bush is the one who should be on trial ... "Saddam and his lawyers manifestly intend to turn this trial into a bully pulpit for loud and long anti-western demonstrations, and never mind the actual charges. But those charges are, in fact, very real ones, and prosecutors must not let the Butcher of Baghdad run away with the show as they seek to make their cases." Sun Editorial, July 2 "Saddam's defiant and arrogant performance in court ... proved one thing. The British-American coalition was right to depose him. The man is not mad. But he is dangerous. We should all be very thankful that in Tony Blair and George Bush we have two leaders with courage and resolve. "If it had been left to the likes of President Jacques Chirac, Robin Cook or Charles Kennedy, the west would have done nothing. And the wild-eyed man we saw in court would still be in his golden palaces, torturing the innocent." Los Angeles Times Editorial, July 2 "Saddam's arrogance and combativeness, if continued throughout a trial, could enhance his popularity among Iraqi dissidents and perhaps encourage more resistance to the country's new government ... Saddam's opponents insisted that he be tried in Iraq, despite its continuing instability. Holding the trial in Baghdad at least has the advantage of making it easier for Saddam's victims to testify. The bigger question is fairness. The presence of respected international jurists on the panel trying Saddam would cut the risk of having the proceedings portrayed as a kangaroo court bent on revenge ... "Trials, with the possibility of acquittals - however remote - are risky. Iraqis building a justice system mostly from scratch saw on Thursday that they're in for a fight with Saddam. They have a lot to prove and plenty to be frightened about." | |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #4 Remember DBT.... That's faith based freedom. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-07-03 11:33:10 AM |
| #3 Mike- LOL! He might even have to go to Remedial Moonbattery. |
| Posted by: Spot 2004-07-03 11:04:06 AM |
| #2 Now, now, DBT, if you're going to peddle conspiracy theories, you have to be consistent. You keep telling us that President Bush is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the House of Sa'ud. Well then, wouldn't it be the Wahabbist Saudis "engineering" the "ersatz-elections," and not their bitter, to-the-death Shi'ite blood enemies in Iran? Or is it all a Mossad plot anyway? Now, go to your room, young man, and don't come out until you have a coherent, internally consistent conspiracy theory to post. Otherwise, you'll flunk Advanced Moonbattery and have to repeat it next semester. |
| Posted by: Mike 2004-07-03 10:54:39 AM |
| #1 Syria engineers Lebanon's ersatz-elections. Iran will engineer Iraq's ersatz-elections. Bush thinks that's "freedom" at work. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=5875 |
| Posted by: Dog Bites Trolls 2004-07-03 8:56:26 AM |