Saddam Hussein remains a huge problem

[ElsewheresDaughter]

It's not clear what kind of show trial the United States and its hand-picked Iraqi government will agree on. But you can bet that intense discussions are under way in an effort to figure out how to orchestrate the appearance of justice without causing acute embarrassment to the wrong people.

For the first decade of Mr. Hussein's 23 years in power, he was regarded NOT as a despicable tyrant but as an eccentric nuisance. He was considered fairly predictable and a reliable business partner, and he posed no threat to anyone outside his own region. Self-interest and self-enrichment led legions of political and business leaders in the United Staes,the West, and the Arab world to cozy up to him. Testimony from Mr. Hussein in an open courtroom could leave an indelible stain on all their records.

The list might include Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who shook hands with the Iraqi dictator in 1983 when the United States supported Iraq against Iran. On the other side of the ledger, it might include Dick Cheney's Halliburton or the French corporations who profited mightily from Iraqi contracts. And what about former Russian prime minister Yevgeny Primakov, who traveled to Iraq in February as the U.S.-led invasion loomed? What did he and Mr. Hussein talk about, besides the possibility of exile for the Iraqi leader? Oil? Nuclear weapons? The custody of key intelligence records relating to Iraq and the Soviet Union?

Perhaps Mr. Hussein will finally tell us something worth knowing about Iraqi links to al-Qaeda, or about weapons of mass destruction. The truth is that Iraq hasn't had deployable chemical, biological or nuclear weapons for at least a decade. That would be some comfort to the United Nations teams who spent years under pressure to achieve the logical impossibility of proving a negative. It would be no comfort at all to Mr. Bush or Mr. Blair, who justified participating in the invasion on the grounds that Iraq's armed forces were 45 minutes away from launching a long-range WMD attack.

[Cooley Hurd]

1. If they still had WMD's, then why haven't they used them...

...against coalition troops? As far as Al Qaeda links, why hasn't the US, now in complete, iron-fisted control of Iraq, been able to prove it after nine months of occupation?

The fact is, after being driven from power, Saddam became completely irrelevant, save only as one of many symbols of the Iraqi resistance. That's all he is now, a symbol, and not a very powerful one...

[KansDem]

2. Many questions remain...

If Bush truly believed his own words about “trusting the American people,” then Saddam’s interrogation would take place before live cameras with questions from “real” people. That way we might learn something more than what the Pentagon, the Media Whores, and the pResident want us to know (I personally would like to hear about the deals between SH and the Reagan/Bush administration, as well as what contribution the US had in the “SH gassed his own people” accusation. Of course, the Bushistas will not tolerate anything other than a well-scripted show trial.

Also, I’d like answered by American officials, why was the US bombing the Hell out of Iraq (up to 2,000lb bombs were used) when WMDs had not been found. Wasn’t there a chance a bomb might have hit a facility that contained some of these WMDs? And if so, wasn’t there a chance that chemicals/pathogens could have been released into the atmosphere? The fact that the US bombed so extensively tells me that there WERE NO WMDS. So far, no one (in the Whoreth Estate) has mentioned this scenario, or asked these questions.

[KoKo]

3. And, remember the gas masks that the Media focused on to whip us into

a frenzy about what Saddam would do to our troops? We don't hear anything about the missing canisters. What if Saddam had really had all this and used it? What would have happened to our troops with the faulty equipment they had? It's been bad enough that Bush sent our soldiers into Iraq with unarmoured Humvee's, faulty body armour or none at all and has asked them to sacrifice their lives based on trumped up Chalabi disinformation while here at home we are supposed to enjoy our "success" (sarcasm)in Iraqi Liberation by spend, spend, spend, buy bigger houses and consume ever more widgets and doo dads from China so that we keep our Economy Afloat.

The contrast in what we asked our troops to do in Afghanistan and Iraq compared with what we Americans are asked to do here at home is horrific and demoralizing to many of us. This is indeed the "Mad World" of the Bushes/PNAC where the Military/Industrial Complex knows no shame, no guilt, no remorse and has a blind eye to America's Future and it's Spirit.

[G_j]

4. look for legal rangling

that will attempt to make sure the trial does not happen before November. Get ready for more 'bang your against the wall' frustration.

excellent post!

btw. Saddam is a POW which is supposed to allow Red Cross monitoring of his interrogation. I don't think they have been allowed to see him yet.

[G_j]

5. kick

:kick:

[Junkdrawer]

6. You mean Saddam "Francis Farmer" Hussein ?

My bet is that either with drugs or a lobotomy, there won't be enough left of Saddam to talk about anything.

[louis-t]

7. It is becoming more apparent that Saddam cannot be tried

in Iraq. Bush has said that he would prefer the Iraqi people have a say-so in his trial. When reality hits, Bush will change his mind and say he never said it. The pro-Saddam protests in Iraq now are much larger than the celebrations were over his capture. It again shows how out of touch this administration is, and how delusional they remain.

[PurityOfEssence]

8. Yes, yes, yes: just another thing the Junta didn't quite think through

Ooooh, look Daddy, we got him, we got him. (The economy turns around, joy and happiness abounds and a proud foreign people meekly bow to utter subjugation.)

Can't really let him say much, can they? He knows WAY too much. Gotta whip up a quick trial and put his head on a pike for all to see.

Can't let the Iraqis have him, can't not let the Iraqis have him.

A greedy euphoria followed by a crestfallen confusion is the defining dynamic of this administration.

Remember the old cartoon: "Duh...what do we do now, George?" (Boy, he's the last one ya should ask.)