Saddam Trial: GOP Sacrifices Justice for an 'October Surprise'

[Demeter]

Saddam Trial: GOP Sacrifices Justice for an 'October Surprise'

By Joshua Holland, AlterNet

Posted on November 6, 2006, Printed on November 6, 2006

http://www.alternet.org/story/43925/

.....

The verdict comes just two days before voters in the U.S. cast their ballots in a political environment that has been toxic for Republicans, in large part because of the war. Polls show that almost nine in ten Americans favor either a total withdrawal of American troops from Iraq or at least a fundamental change in strategy. Iraq is the most important issue for voters, who, by a 51-36 margin, say that Democrats would do a better job handling the mess. As of Saturday, Democrats led in 37 contested House races and trailed in none... Exactly how stupid does this White House think we are?

Scott Horton, a Columbia University law professor who's been to Baghdad several times to see the proceedings up close, told The Nation's Tom Engelhardt that "most observers expected the date would be much later, but it seems to have been moved up." He said the verdict's timing "is designed to show some progress in Iraq" so that "the American public will see Saddam condemned to death and see it as a positive thing...In my experience, everything that comes out of Baghdad is very carefully prepared for U.S. domestic consumption. ... There is a team of American lawyers working as special legal advisers out of the U.S. embassy, who drive the tribunal. They have been involved in preparing the case and overseeing it from the beginning. The trial, which is shown on TV, has mild entertainment value for Iraqis, but they refer to it regularly as an American puppet theater."
The occupation authorities are decidedly political. Rajiv Chandrasekaran, author of Imperial Life in the Emerald City, wrote that partisan loyalty has consistently trumped experience when it comes to hiring Americans to staff the largest Embassy in the world in Baghdad's Green Zone: " posed blunt questions to some candidates about domestic politics: Did you vote for George W. Bush in 2000? Do you support the way the president is fighting the war on terror? Two people who sought jobs with the U.S. occupation authority said they were even asked their views on Roe v. Wade."

Although the trial was expected to last months longer, the date of the verdict was moved up, in part, by ending the evidentiary phase before all of the defense's witnesses could be heard. Presiding judge Raouf Rasheed Abdel-Rahman -- the third judge to oversee the trial -- shut down the testimony before it was complete, saying: "We are done with witnesses. . . . If those 26 were not able to make the case, then 100 will not." Abdel-Rahman got the job after the Iraqi government and its American "advisors" dismissed the previous judge, Abdullah al-Amiri, for being "too soft" on Hussein. In January, the first judge to hear the case resigned because of the government's attempt to influence the proceedings. An Iraqi source told reporters: "He's under a lot of pressure. The whole court is under political pressure."

The proceedings, which the administration and its boosters likened to the Nuremberg trials of Nazi officials in the late 1940s, have been a sham from the start, marred by stunning levels of interference from the U.S.-backed Iraqi government. The occupation forces launched the trial before a government with a veneer of sovereignty was even established. Before Hussein was found guilty, Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki publicly called for his swift execution...Three of Saddam's lawyers, one of the prosecuting judges and his son, and another judge's brother-in-law have been gunned down in the streets during the trial. Defense attorneys have boycotted the proceedings and still others have been barred from the courtroom.

According to Human Rights Watch, defense counsel hasn't been allowed to consult with their clients; HRW expressed "concerns" over the proceedings' "inappropriate standard of proof and inadequate protections against self-incrimination." The defendants have alleged that they've been beaten in custody. They've been kicked out of the courtroom every time they open their mouths, probably because of fears that they'll remind people that the same country occupying Iraq today was supporting Saddam during the worst of his abuses. Judges allowed prosecuting attorneys to introduce evidence without giving the defense a chance to preview it, which Richard Dicker, director of Human Rights Watch's international justice program, called "trial by ambush." There aren't adequate transcripts of the proceedings.....That's the process that Fox News said has been "lauded for its fairness." Future generations of law students will study it as a textbook example of a kangaroo court, a model of "victor's justice."

....
It's inconceivable that a man with Saddam Hussein's ego wouldn't prefer a quick martyr's death after a trial widely viewed as a mockery of justice to being humbled before the rule of law -- to having the impunity that marked his decades of rule ripped away from him before the eyes of the world.

A fair trial would have demonstrated some of the best principles of liberal democracy: judicial independence, the right to a rigorous defense and the presumption of innocence until proven otherwise. But, tragically, in order to get vengeance against Saddam the flesh-and-blood man -- and for the sake of the American electoral calendar -- Saddam the dictator will never see justice.

Joshua Holland is an AlterNet staff writer.

I HAD TO CUT SO MUCH THAT I MUST INSIST THAT YOU READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE FOR COMPLETENESS!

[greeneyedboy]

1. this is an embarrassment for them. i bet they are wishing they hadn't been so obvious.

but how could they have known--they've never had to deal with consequences and accountability until this year, and they're just not used to it yet. perhaps the long vacation will do them good.

[ladywnch]

2. if this is the best they can come up with for an October surprise

they must REALLY be in trouble. Everyone knew was going to be the verdict. It is of NO surprise to ANYONE.