Saddam s trial: Hoax of the century
Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2006 8:34 am
The trial became a grim circus. The presiding judge refused to return to court, witnesses were intimidated, and defense attorneys murdered. There was no proper legal procedure, no rules of evidence, no cross-examination. In short, very little that resembled a genuine legal proceeding.
But morally and legally, Saddam’s trial was a travesty of justice, an old-fashioned show trial worthy of the 1930’s Soviet Union. Its goal was not to determine Saddam’s guilt or innocence, but to justify the US invasion of Iraq, which, by the way, was a blatant violation of international law.
The Baghdad court lacks any legal basis, being created by the puppet regime installed by the US after the invasion. Its strings are being pulled by the Pentagon and US Dept of Justice.
Saddam had no proper legal defense. Unnamed judges hearing the case were bitter Shia foes of Saddam’s regime. Witnesses remained secret and beyond cross-examination. Defense witness risked murder by Shia hit squads. Saddam was not allowed to speak freely in his defense, and the world was denied hearing his-first person testimony. Every time he raised the question of western backing for his regime, the microphones were cut off. Very Soviet.
Dead dictators tell no tales. If allowed to fully testify, Saddam would have revealed the whole sordid story of America’s long, intimate collaboration with his regime, and produced embarrassing revelations of how the Reagan and Thatcher governments encouraged, armed and financed Iraq’s 1980’s invasion of Iran.
Saddam was being tried for ordering a massacre in a small Shia village where he narrowly escaped assassination. He was not tried for his biggest crime, the U.S. and British endorsed invasion of Iran, an aggression that inflicted 1.5 million casualties on both nations.
But morally and legally, Saddam’s trial was a travesty of justice, an old-fashioned show trial worthy of the 1930’s Soviet Union. Its goal was not to determine Saddam’s guilt or innocence, but to justify the US invasion of Iraq, which, by the way, was a blatant violation of international law.
The Baghdad court lacks any legal basis, being created by the puppet regime installed by the US after the invasion. Its strings are being pulled by the Pentagon and US Dept of Justice.
Saddam had no proper legal defense. Unnamed judges hearing the case were bitter Shia foes of Saddam’s regime. Witnesses remained secret and beyond cross-examination. Defense witness risked murder by Shia hit squads. Saddam was not allowed to speak freely in his defense, and the world was denied hearing his-first person testimony. Every time he raised the question of western backing for his regime, the microphones were cut off. Very Soviet.
Dead dictators tell no tales. If allowed to fully testify, Saddam would have revealed the whole sordid story of America’s long, intimate collaboration with his regime, and produced embarrassing revelations of how the Reagan and Thatcher governments encouraged, armed and financed Iraq’s 1980’s invasion of Iran.
Saddam was being tried for ordering a massacre in a small Shia village where he narrowly escaped assassination. He was not tried for his biggest crime, the U.S. and British endorsed invasion of Iran, an aggression that inflicted 1.5 million casualties on both nations.