Robert Parry: The Iraq-gate Cover-up Continues

[babylonsister]

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2007/062507.html

The Iraq-gate Cover-up Continues

By Robert Parry
June 25, 2007

In another show trial for Saddam Hussein’s compatriots – followed by more death sentences – an unnoted success for George W. Bush was how the U.S. press corps has continued to avert its eyes from the role of Westerners, including Bush’s father, in aiding and abetting Hussein’s murderous regime.

Major U.S. newspapers, including the New York Times and the Washington Post, reported on the June 24 death sentences meted out to Ali Hassan al-Majeed and two other senior Hussein aides without a single mention of the American role in helping arm and protect the Iraqi regime in the 1980s.

A special Iraqi tribunal handed down the death sentences after a tainted legal process that saw Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki oust the original chief judge for making comments viewed as favorable to the defense. The defendants also were denied the opportunity to call witnesses because of security concerns.

The prospect of real justice was impaired, too, when Maliki rushed Hussein to the gallows on Dec. 30, 2006, eliminating the possibility that the former dictator might offer explosive testimony, including how his regime got the chemical weapons that were deployed against Iranian troops and their Iraqi Kurdish allies during the Iran-Iraq War.

So, when the special tribunal resumed in January 2007, the prosecution could play an incriminating tape recording of Hussein discussing chemical weapons without the risk of him fingering U.S. officials or other Westerners.

Because of the hasty execution, Iraqi judges couldn’t turn to Hussein and question him about the tape’s authenticity or its context. An obvious follow-up would have been how Hussein had obtained the poisons that allegedly killed tens of thousands of Iraqi Kurds.

more...

[acmavm]

1. Yep, had to kill the guy so he couldn't tell the truth about the

bastards that are just about as guilty as he was.

edit: I'm not saying he wasn't a bad guy, he most certainly was. But hell, we've wiped out more Iraqis than he ever did.

[blm]

2. Plus, if Iraqgate had been followed up w/INTEGRITY by Clinton's DOJ, there would

have been no Bush2 or Iraq war, but instead they made deals and allowed an innocent man to plead for a reduced sentence just so Kissinger wouldn't have to testify under oath.

Disgusting - Iraqgate was treated just like IranContra, BCCI and CIA drugrunning - downplayed or ignored till they were no longer in the news.

That worked out well for this country, didn't it?



http://consortiumnews.com/2006/111106.html

[acmavm]

6. Clinton sure did cover up a lot of shit for his buddies. And I don't

care what anyone here says about 'Big Dog'. He was NOT all that they think he was. He was one lucky SOB. He came into office when the dot.com bubble started, left when it was crashing. He was one lucky man.

[blm]

9. BushInc didn't get STRONGER through the 90s by accident.

Bush would have been impeached if he stayed in office because he was completely cornered on so many matters late in his presidency.

[madmom]

3. it's my humble opinion that that's why gonzo is still around, he knows to much

[blm]

4. That's why ALOT of Reagan-Bush era thugs are STILL around - they ALL have roles

in this quest for total fascism and dominance over the world's resources.

[Old and In the Way]

5. Hanging a week before the Dems took over Congress.

Couldn't have anyone taking depositions for the record, could we?

[PurityOfEssence]

7. You have a remarkable habit for pointing out salient issues

Dead men tell no tales. It was greasy and transparent to kill the guy as soon as possible, but I hadn't thought of the connection with the change of control.

Hmmm....

[blm]

8. EXACTLY, Old - you nailed it exactly.

Couldn't have him called up by the Democratic led Senate Foreign Relations Committee, right?