Foreign Correspondence

[Amaunet]

White House Wants Saddam Tried as Soon as Possible


http://www.zaman.com/?bl=international&alt=&trh=20040702&hn=10024

President Bush is under pressure from Republican allies to have Saddam Hussein put on trial swiftly, a move they hope might boost support for the Iraq war before the November presidential election.

Putting a spotlight on Saddam's record of execution and torture could help shore up public support for the invasion damaged by a U.S. prison abuse scandal, Sen. Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, said on Wednesday.
http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/forms/printstory.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=883085&tw=w...

Republicans are pushing to put Saddam Hussein on trial before November, hoping an evildoer bounce in the polls carries President Bush to reelection, GOP sources said yesterday.

With the election shaping up as a referendum on Iraq, the officials said the televised spectacle of an arrogant Saddam in the dock would offset the Democrats' jibes at the failure to find weapons of mass destruction or prove a 9/11 link.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/story/208409p-179665c.html


That the Republicans are pushing to use Saddam’s trial to boost Bush’s ratings leads me to believe that the fact the United States was in part an accomplice to Saddam’s crimes and in ridding the world of Saddam and his elusive WMD’s the United States used depleted uranium, classified by the UN as a WMD, against the Iraqis will be covered up. This disgusts me, I am not even a Democrat.

#msg-3454708
#msg-3433798

The spotlight should be put on Saddam's record of execution and torture but it should also shine elsewhere.

-Am


Overthrown Dictator Faces Three Main Accusations

07.02.2004 Friday


[ANALYSIS]



The former leader of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, is now in the hands of Iraq's temporary government and seated in the chair of the accused. Hussein, who is to be judged 'by the Iraqi people', will in fact be tried on the following three charges: War crimes, crimes against peace and crimes against humanity. The war crimes allege that Iraq invaded first Iran in 1980 and then Kuwait in 1990 with no legal basis.


This crucial threat against international peace and security was that the characteristic of the violence violated the most basic norms that the United Nations (UN) system is based on. It is known that chemical weapons were used during the Iran-Iraq War and that some detainees were killed and some city centers were bombed. All of these actions are prohibited by the Geneva Conventions.

Iraq itself bore witness to crimes against humanity in a broader sense, including mass murders, extensive torture, the massacre of people in Halabaja by chemical weapons, etc.

If it is taken into consideration that the trial is to be conducted at the court consisting of specially trained judges, 'crimes against humanity' will be the main axis. Thus, Saddam Hussein and (other powerful men of the regime) will be brought to task for the cruelties they inflicted on the Iraqi people over the years. This situation seems formidable enough for other dictators busy engaging in similar activities.


However, questions abound about whether or not the rules of conduct in this trial are legal. Saddam Hussein right now is a prisoner of war.

Saddam, a statesman captured as a result of invading force that ignored all the international laws and mechanisms set up by the UN system, could argue that the US occupation of Iraq last year was not so different from his occupation of Kuwait.

The Iraq Temporary Government looks like a 'puppet government'. It has no legitimacy in the presence of the Iraqi people. It is a matter of discussion in international law whether or not the decrees of an illegal authority bind the following governments. Finally, one need not even bother predicting that this trial will be fair because it will be held under the close watch of the occupier force and a government whose raison d'etre is opposition to Saddam.

BERDAL ARAL, Assistant Prof., Fatih University International Affairs Department.



07.02.2004
BERDAL ARAL
Istanbul


http://www.zaman.com/?bl=international&alt=&trh=20040702&hn=10024