Earlier this week, Iraq’s American overseers expressed embarrassment – disguised as frustration – with the way even their newly-appointed, no-nonsense judge is allowing Saddam Hussein to make a mockery of his trial for crimes against humanity. And no one delights in their embarrassment more than Saddam himself. Indeed, he jumps at every opportunity to get under their skin by performing his perfectly scripted and choreographed defense – intended not so much to address the charges against him as to address the international audience with sensational charges of his own against his American accusers (and to disrupt and delay the proceedings, indefinitely).
For those of you who have only seen passing images of Saddam holding forth in his own defense, here’s his answer to every charge and court ruling, and what I predict will constitute his opening statement, case in chief and summation:
“Don’t you know who I am… I am Saddam, president of Iraq. You have no jurisdiction over me. You are a puppet of the infidel American aggressors and a traitor to Islam. To hell with you and to hell with this court!”
As bizarre as it may seem, Saddam’s defense strategy is working. Because after each of these now patented performances, court is adjourned – for a week or two – until Saddam is ready for his next curtain call or until he recovers from his latest bout of illness or from his new ploy, the classic
hunger strike.This is clearly a farce, but the Americans have only themselves to blame. After all, their Iraqi surrogates pleaded with them to dispense justice for this former dictator under the “Saddamic” law he keeps invoking to defy the court’s authority. Because, if they had heeded those pleas, Saddam would have been executed within days of his capture and his victims would now be free to tell their stories (see SHOAH), without the horrific indignity of this genocidal maniac staring at them.
Instead, at this rate, I have no doubt that five years from now, Saddam will still be performing his defense and turning his trial into a three-ring circus. I am equally certain, however, that international interest in his courtroom antics (and even in his fate) will wane; just as initial interest in and morbid fascination by the courtroom high jinks of former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic has waned as his trial for crimes against humanity withers away in The Hague with nary a media comment.
But I’m sure that it was not lost on Saddam that – just last Sunday – Milosevic celebrated five years of making a mockery of his trial by using this same delusional and ego-maniacal strategy – complete with prolonged adjournments to treat mysterious illnesses. After all, for Saddam, Milosevic’s anniversary represents a life-affirming prospect that is devoutly to be wished (indeed emulated). For his American captors, however, the Milosevic precedent is but a foreshadowing of terminal embarrassment (and frustration) – as one Iraqi judge after another does his best to dispense American-style justice with the palpable and ironic sense that justice delayed for Saddam will be justice denied.
Note: I understand why the Americans in Iraq and the United Nations in The Hague are bending over backwards to give these former dictators a “fair” trial. But there’s really no reason why Saddam should be allowed to utter a single word in court – unless and until he’s called to testify; just as there was no reason to allow Milosevic to act in his own defense – especially since he has yet to even recognise the jurisdiction of his Tribunal (the ICTY) and his political intentions were clear from the outset.
Instead, here are just a few procedural restrictions that should have been implemented:
The proceedings should’ve been videotaped for release only after trial, and not for showing on the daily evening news. Both men should’ve been assigned public defenders (since, in Saddam’s case, what money he has to pay private lawyers is prima facie tainted as ill-gotten gains). They should’ve been warned that any attempt to disrupt the proceedings would result in their being placed in sound-proof chambers for the remainder of the trial. And, evidence against them should’ve been presented regardless of their physical presence in court to negate dubious complaints about heart murmurs and belly aches being used to bring their trials to a halt, repeatedly. If these restrictions were in place, there’s no reason why either trial should’ve taken more than 6 months to complete!
As it stands, Milosevic is leading his Tribunal into it’s 5th year on a budget that was $271,854,600 (USD) for 2004 and 2005. And, no one sees any end in sight except his death by natural causes (and, no doubt, Saddam is determined to win a similar forturnate fate). In fairness to Milosevic, however, even he condemned the farcical nature of his trial when he made the following observation to the presiding judge in response to one of so many things that have gone wrong with his trial:
“Well, Mr. May, that really is an example showing that this is truly nothing more than a farce.”
Indeed! And, Saddam too has shouted as much….
Saddam Hussein trial, Slobodan Milosevic in The Hague
Anonymous says
Fucking unbelievable! These guys are bigger dictators today than they’ve ever been.