October 19, 2005, Go for the gusto
After failing to secure the requisite diversion from Fitzgerald's laser-like focus with the Harriet Miers thing, with the insanely profligate Katrina recovery package, with the threatened veto of the torture ban, or with the "stunning success" we are having in Iraq after the process we rigged to ensure that the constitution would pass resulted in the constitution passing, Karl decided it was time to commence the Saddam Hussein show trials... a very (VERY) courageous presiding Judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin wisely adjourned said Saddam show trial for around six weeks to permit preparation of some kind of meaningful defense.
Well, who knows? Maybe, the Saddam trials will come to greatly resemble the
war crimes trial of Bush and Cheney Nuremberg trials, which began sixty years ago this week. Or maybe they will resemble the trial of Milosevic, that seems to be mired in procedural circles and has been going on for years with no end-- indeed no beginning-- in sight. Maybe the Iraqis will assert themselves (pay no attention to the men behind the curtains) and actually try to give this murderous bastard and his Baathist co-defendants something resembling a fair trial, despite the desires of the Bush Administration. For one thing, maybe the Iraqis will be smart enough to take the death penalty off the table; while our genius President would fail to see the (insanely stupid and unnecessarily gravely) negative consequences of an attempt to execute a former leader of a sovereign nation that we invaded without provocation... I suspect even Condi and Cheney and Rumsfeld might be able to see the problems with it, particularly given that the currently "sovereign" Iraqi government clearly remains an American ward and protectorate.
Or maybe they can't.
Who knows? To his credit, Arafat had the decency to just up and die (albeit under circumstances that might have been... controversial...) So, perhaps Saddam who, after all, is himself in his 60's and has a very bad back and I understand other health problems, might, you know, oblige us likewise, and save us all this trouble. Or perhaps someone will come up with something creative, like sentencing Saddam to banishment somewhere, or else, better yet, just decide to ignore him until he dies or something (the only fitting punishment, to be honest: having him wallow in obscurity for the rest of his days.)
Just another one of many, many loose ends we have left, as part of the very, very large mess to clean up that we have created in Iraq. As with all projects of the Bush Administration... look over there!
Comments
"...better yet, just decide to ignore him until he dies or something..."
You're kidding right? You think the death penalty should be "off the table" in respect to Saddam's crimes? Man, I hope Congressional Democrats agree with you!
And enough of this "sovereign nation that we invaded without provocation" BS. Saddam fired on our pilots on a daily basis, he continually broke the '91 ceasefire agreement, he refused to cooperate with inspectors, he ignored 17 UN resolutions, he tried to assassinate a former POTUS... the list goes on and on. How much more provocation does one need?
Posted by Lawrence at October 20, 2005 6:01 PM
Actually, I couldn't care less if they took Saddam out and shot him; in fact, I think it's unfortunate he was captured alive, but that's the way it is.
It was Dick Cheney who once asked how many more American lives Saddam's sorry ass was worth, and Cheney answered his own question "not too damn many."
And in that regard... I agree with Dick Cheney!
The "satisfaction" of having the Iraqi proto-state which we control (or at a minimum prop up and are perceived to control) execute the bastard seems small beer compared to the likely resultant counter-carnage which will be heaped against our military personnel and allies for our/their doing so.
As to the bona fides on our military action in Iraq at all, well... the debate on that has been going on for years, and I suspect will continue to go on for years. Certainly, given the Congressional vote to authorize force (note aye votes by Sens. Kerry, Clinton, Edwards, Bayh, Biden and everyone else likely running for Pres. nomination) and the UN resolution (the unanimous one, not the withdrawn one!), probably made our invasion more "legal" than many if not most American military actions. No question, Saddam provided numerous casi belli; none of them, of course, were used as selling points for our action, but, I guess, you say tomato...
That said... I repeat my conclusion that the scant psychic satisfaction of executing Saddam just isn't worth the consequences of doing so; very similar to the conclusion the Israelis reached about Arafat... they certainly had the means (and in their view, the justification) to have him killed, but in the great scheme of things... it was just not worth the attendant trouble.
We will, methinks, eventually reach the same conclusion; I'm just suggesting we reach that conclusion now.
Posted by the talking dog at October 20, 2005 10:40 PM
You always seem so much more reasonable in the comments, TD. Aside from perhaps a sizeable portion of Arab Sunnis, Iraqis do want Saddam put to death for his crimes. There's no shortage of volunteers to be his executioner. If not for our protecting him in an undisclosed location, he would undoubted be dead already. The blowback from his death sentence, which will probably be sure and swift after his conviction, will mostly be from left-wing circles in the West. In other words, not something I worry too much about.
I would also add that there were many reasons given for liberating Iraq (see the 2002 Iraq War Resolution and 2003 SOTU address). Removing Saddam was a neccessary step in helping the ME move out of the dark ages. The UN just released a study showing that, despite popular belief, there are far fewer wars today than there were 30 years ago, and the ones that do occur are far less bloody. The primary reason: there are more democracies now than then.
Saddam's death will signal that we're not moving back; that there's no hope of his loyalists returning him to power. I, for one, look forward to the day.
Posted by Lawrence at October 21, 2005 12:22 PM
Lets pray he doesn't 'oblige us'.Can you imagine the conspiracy theories ! The pity indeed is that he didn't 'resist arrest' in that hidey hole.
Posted by euro-ron at October 21, 2005 4:14 PM