Saddam And John Kerry Agree
By Tom Barrett (07/07/04)
As I watched a defiant Saddam Hussein bluster his way through his first court appearance for war crimes in Iraq, I was struck with the fact that on at least one important point he and John Kerry are in agreement. Saddam stated that he shouldn't be on trial, that Bush and the United States were the real war criminals. John Kerry is famous for saying that the United States of America was "the real criminal" in the Vietnam War. Kerry voted for the war in Iraq, but since he started his campaign, he has been saying things like, "This administration's arrogant and ideological policy is taking America down a dangerous path," and that the president, "…has a fraudulent coalition."
But this article is not about the wannabe boss of the US who will never grasp the power he lusts after so desperately. This is about a real dictator's day in court.
And what a court it was. A court where the people who have been hurt the most by this monster can try him under their own judicial system. A court where meddling French and German influence can't prevent the death sentence from being imposed. A court where the whole world can see that even the vilest murderous dictators eventually meet their fate.
Liberals are bemoaning the fact that the "international community" will not be trying Saddam. Personally I am as happy as I can be. The Iraqi people deserve to sit in judgment on this miserable excuse for a human. Their women are the ones who had their husbands dumped on their doorsteps cut up in pieces. Their men are the ones who were forced to watch Saddam's thugs rape their wives. They are the ones who show up every time another mass grave is discovered containing tens of thousands of Hussein's victims. They need this in order to heal.
The UN (United Nitwits) would drag the trial out for years. Eventually Saddam would be convicted and placed in a comfortable prison where he would write his memoirs (which would probably outsell Clinton's) while eating French pate. I am sure the outcome of the Iraqi trial will be much different.
The average Iraqi wants Saddam to receive the death penalty. For some strange reason the Provisional Authority, run by the US (which has the death penalty), decided to suspend the death penalty in Iraq. So the terrorist murderers of US soldiers and civilians in Iraq cannot be put to death, but they can be in the US. This makes absolutely no sense.
It appears that the Iraqis have better sense than Paul Bremer and company. There is strong support for reinstating the death penalty before Saddam and his henchmen go to trial. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi and Kuwaiti citizens are waiting to see justice done for their tortured, raped and murdered relatives. I'm sure they regret that Saddam can only be put to death once.
The young presiding Iraqi judge is a marked man, and therefore a brave man. Many judges in Columbia who have presided over the trials of drug lords have been brutally murdered. He knows that, like them, he and the other judges who will join him on the tribunal will never again be able to walk the streets in safety. There will always be one of Saddam's relatives or an al-Qaeda terrorist waiting to kill him because he presided over this trial. But he is taking this huge risk because he believes that it is vital that Saddam be made to pay for his crimes against humanity.
The camera crews were ordered not to show the judge's face, but they did show a side view several times. That will make little difference, because there were so few judges in Saddam's lawless Iraq that it will take little effort to identify him and put a price on his head. In fact, Hussein taunted him during the hearing, daring the judge to identify himself.
I think two mistakes were made during the hearing. First, the judge, most likely in an attempt to show fairness, allowed Saddam to spout off far too much. This was a hearing for the sole purpose of presenting the charges against Saddam and eleven of his top people, and making sure they understood their rights. The judge did not need to allow Saddam to rave on about being President of Iraq and therefore immune from prosecution. He did stop Saddam when, after being read that one of the charges against him was the invasion of Kuwait, he called the Kuwaitis "mad dogs".
The other mistake was having the hearings of all twelve together. Up until now they have been held in isolation and have not been able to communicate with one another. Some of them, particularly Deputy Prime Minister Tarik Aziz, might have been persuaded to provide evidence against Saddam. But seeing his defiant attitude likely further emboldened the bold ones. And hearing his indirect threat against the judge probably further intimidated the timid ones like Aziz.
If you're one of the few who feels the death penalty is never justified, do you feel it would be justified if you knew for certain that executing one man would save the lives of hundreds of others? Look at all the hostages being taken and murdered today with the condition for their release being the release of some obscure Iraqi prisoners or the withdrawal of some nation's troops.
Now imagine what would happen if Saddam were given a life sentence. As long as he lived, hundreds of hostages would be taken and murdered until some politician finally gave in and released the mass murderer. How you would you feel if one of your relatives were taken hostage and threatened with death is Saddam was not released? To the Saddam loyalists and the al-Qaeda terrorists he financed and sheltered, Hussein is a symbol. As long as he is alive, they will stop at nothing to obtain his release.
The Iraqis understand this. According to a nationwide poll in Iraq taken in May, 61% of Iraqis said Saddam should get the death penalty if found guilty of murdering Iraqis. Only 20% said he should face a life sentence.
I don't envy the judges who will sit on the tribunal that will decide Saddam Hussein's fate. They will be heroes to most, and targets to a hateful few. But the journey upon which they are about to embark is vital if Iraq is to survive as a free nation.
INTERNET RESOURCES:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1251451,00.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5323918/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3855359.stm
http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=747962004
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20040129-115023-8966r.htm
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/2/15/142343.shtml
http://www.issues2000.org/International/John_Kerry_War_+_Peace.htm
http://www.kerryquotes.com/#Iraq%20War
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