Saddam Hussein trial mystery

[lwcon]

Here's what I don't get, why didn't the Saddam Hussein trial include charges about how he planned 9/11?

What's up with that?


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[jobycom]

1. Good one! I think they plan to try him for 9-11 next, after this trial and execution.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Maybe a total lack of evidence?

Not even enough for a show trial?

[MannyGoldstein]

3. Proof of the San Francisco Agenda

And the war against Christmas.

Why do you hate our troops and love the terrorists?

But, tell me one thing: do you want to win the war? Do you?

[lwcon]

5. I actually know how to win the war...

...but, sorry, I have other priorities.


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[dchill]

4. Seriously...

Once he's convicted and sentenced to death, might he not start spilling the beans about what he really does know? (About where his WMD came from, and where they went, etc.) Wouldn't that worry Bushie, Dickie, and Rummy?

[Wickerman]

6. won't they execute him on the spot?

I know there was talk of that sort of trial at one point. Doubt it will happen here, but it wouldn't surprise me. That, or he will be shot "trying to escape". Hope he has been writing his memoirs.

[lwcon]

7. I read today that Iraqi law calls for a hanging

Saddam said he'd prefer a firing squad. Other than that, they've done a great job of keeping him under wraps, but you wonder if he'll find a way of sharing some of the dirty business he did with Bush 41, Rumsfeld, and company.

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[lapfog_1]

8. One might reasonably ask why they haven't water boarded

Saddam. I mean it's such an effective technique, and they are so sure that he HAD those WMDs. Why haven't we gotten the information out of him already?

[dchill]

9. !

Uh - YEAH

[GreenTea]

10. Bush Cheney Rumsfeld have all admitted Saddam had nothing to do with 9/11

[lwcon]

11. Four quotes

Cheney:

...during an interview on NBC 's Meet the Press (9/14/03), when Vice President Dick Cheney was asked if he was "surprised" that so many Americans connected Iraq to the 9/11 attacks, Cheney responded:

"No. I think it's not surprising that people make that connection.... You and I talked about this two years ago. I can remember you asking me this question just a few days after the original attack. At the time I said no, we didn't have any evidence of that. We've learned a couple of things. We learned more and more that there was a relationship between Iraq and Al Qaeda that stretched back through most of the decade of the '90s, that it involved training, for example, on BW and CW , that Al Qaeda sent personnel to Baghdad to get trained on the systems that are involved. The Iraqis providing bomb-making expertise and advice to the Al Qaeda organization."

On NBC 's Meet the Press (12/9/01): "That's been pretty well confirmed that (Atta) did go to Prague and he did meet with a senior official of the Iraqi intelligence service in Czechoslovakia last April, several months before the attack."

Bush:

"Some wonder whether Iraq is a central front in the war on terror. Among the terrorists, there is no debate. Here are the words of Osama bin Laden: 'This third world war is raging in Iraq. The whole world is watching this war.' He says it will end in victory and glory or misery and humiliation."

By citing bin Laden, Bush raised him to the stature of a foreign leader. But he went further, embracing bin Laden's understanding of the war's dynamics as a crusade. By endorsing bin Laden's notion of a "third world war," the American president lent the prestige of his office to the terrorists' vision. Using bin Laden's statement to justify his own course, Bush legitimated their war.

By mixing 9/11 and Iraq, Bush jumbled the actual logic of cause and effect. In the rush to war, Bush, Cheney & Co. had suggested that Saddam Hussein was allied with terrorists, connecting the dot to 9/11. Now the CIA reports that Iraq has become a terrorist training center only since the failed postwar reconstruction.

...and Bush:

"One of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the War on Terror."

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[Coaster City]

12. Appeal Process??????????

So they found him guilty and now they are going to hang him? If he doesn't have an appeal does that make him not guilty ala Ken Lay? How many different judges and lead council participated in this circus? Mistrial?

[lwcon]

13. Not that one needs to weep a second for a monster like Saddam Hussein...

... but I'm not sure a hanging is going to be the best possible symbolism for a non-barbaric Iraq.

I'd wager we're not going to see a rigorous appeals process, for reasons both understandable (about time this bastard got his due) and regrettable (American strongarming of the nascent Iraqi democracy, and unlikelihood of due process being a hallmark of the war-torn country -- especially given the dire personal risks associated with working on this case).

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[Igel]

14. There's an automatic appeal.

He's not going to be swinging from the gallows for many months.

[lwcon]

15. November 2008? n/t

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[Disturbed]

16. The 2nd Trial is still in progress.

He will most likely be found guilty in this current trial and also sentenced to Death by Hanging.There was a 3rd Trial scheduled. I wonder if there will still be one. How long would an Appeal take?

[Igel]

18. The appeal could take as little as a month, after

the paperwork is filed by the defense.

I personally think his sentence will be commuted on 12/31/06 to score political points. 12/31/06 is the next big Muslim feast, eid al-adha. Mercy on feastdays is a long-standing ME and Muslim tradition, pardoning or sparing your enemies--it puts them and their supporters in the horrible position of incurring dishonor by showing ingratitude, or having their guts explode by showing gratitude and having the "merciful" side look good. After all, Rahman ("merciful", IIRC) is one of the names of Allah, accounting for names like Abdul Rahman ("servant of the merciful one"). Or a commutation might be worked out behind the scenes; there's also a long Muslim tradition of forgiving those that wronged you in exchange for enough money or expressing sufficient humiliation. "Justice" is malleable.

Moreover, having scored a jackpot of honor points, one can afford to be generous. One can even deign to negotiate.

Saddam will almost certainly have another death penalty coming along in a year or two, so a commutation isn't a big deal. Except symbolically. Exile ... that would be a big deal.

[Mr_Spock]

17. Because Saddam is Rummy's best friend

Wouldn't want to have to explain our relationship with the regime - that's why.

[lwcon]

19. Video version

http://youtube.com/watch?v=WJUmhtmKttM

A year after the incident for which Hussein is being hanged.


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