Saddam Hussein’s Trial Starts Tomorrow
Considering that the man was a brutal dictator one would think that most people would see this as justice being done.
They are worried about the Butcher of Baghdad not getting a fair trial, since it’s, gasp, taking place in Iraq with Iraqi judges, as opposed to an international tribunal.
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Oct. 17 – On Wednesday, 22 months after he was dragged from his hiding place in an underground bunker, Saddam Hussein will appear in an Iraqi court to answer for the brutalities he inflicted on his fellow Iraqis. But what should be a moment of triumph for his victims is instead stirring concern about the fairness and competence of the court itself.
It sounds to me like the only one “stirring concern” is the writer of this sob story, along with the usual lefty “human rights” organizations.
But anyway, moving along.
While many Iraqis are eager for the moment when they see Mr. Hussein in the dock, Western human rights groups and legal experts have warned that the former dictator is unlikely to get a fair trial, and that the probable outcome, a death sentence, will be what the tribunal’s harshest critics have described as “victor’s justice.”
Oh so now it’s “victor’s justice” when a brutal dictator is made to account for his crimes to the people whom he abused for decades?
If that’s not bad enough, the Times then proceeds to malign the Iraqi judges.
Even tribunal officials, who asked not to be identified because they feared they could be dismissed, say a quick adjournment could be a relief, sparing them the embarrassment of seeing the proceedings unravel as inexperienced Iraqi judges and prosecutors are exposed to the pressure of a trial that will attract worldwide attention, and to arrangements in the courtroom, including an on-again-off-again dispute over live television coverage, which have been the subject of last-minute wrangling.
How convenient for the Times that these so-called tribunal officials asked not to be identified. Whenever you want to insert your own partisan commentary and show your contempt, simply attribute it to a fictitious “tribunal official” who asks not to be identified.
In the second page of the article, the usual human rights suspects are revealed.
On Monday, a strongly critical 19-page review of the tribunal and its legal procedures was issued by Human Rights Watch, the New York-based group, which said its study had “given rise to serious concerns” about the tribunal’s “capacity to conduct trials that are fair, and perceived among the Iraqi population to be fair.”
Similar criticisms have been leveled by Amnesty International and other human rights and legal monitoring groups in the United States and Europe. Critics have been countered by other Western legal experts who say the tribunal offers safeguards that compare well with those at the international tribunal in The Hague, and exceed by a wide margin anything previously seen in a politically-sensitive trial in the Middle East. Both sides in the argument will have observers at the trial.
Unfortunately, now that there is no more Soviet Union to monitor, Human Rights Watch now spends it’s time fretting over the treatment of a brutal dictator, as well as vicious young criminals sentenced to life without parole in the U.S.
Regarding Amnesty International, I guess it’s only natural that they would be bent out of shape over Saddam’s trial since for them, almost everything is America’s fault.
Now, for a more balanced, less nauseaqting view of the upcoming trial without the pro-Saddam slant, read what Fox News has to say.
No Liberal Bull puts all the lefty complaining into perspective as well.
