California Conservative

Saddam Death Verdict Sign of Iraq’s Progress

Saddam Hussein, formerly known as the “Butcher of Baghdad”, was convicted for “crimes against humanity” and genocide and sentenced to death by hanging. Look for US liberal news outlets to join with Al Jazeera in questioning the timing and the legitimacy of the trial.

This death sentence for Saddam Hussein is reminiscent of every other milestone in Iraq since the 2003 liberation of that country by coalition forces. Each event, particularly the elections, was downplayed by critics. They cautioned us against believing the event was significant, warned of massive violent attacks that never came and most importantly underestimated the strength and resolve with which Iraqis want Democracy in their country. Iraq has an independent judiciary that has pulled itself together and sustained itself very quickly. It is simply wishful thinking for anyone to believe that either the judiciary or any part of the Iraqi government is a puppet of George W. Bush.

Saddam’s case will automatically be sent to the Court of Appeals and this defendant will go through a process of appeals that could take as long as a year to resolve. Once the final appeal is exhausted, the death sentence, assuming it is not overturned, will take place within 30 days.

This is another reason the United States needs to remain in Iraq. Aside from the fact that Iraq will dissolve into the kind of quagmire Democrats are currently pimping it to be, Iraq is far more vulnerable with Saddam sitting in a jail cell with a deteriorated Iraq and no US forces to back up the Iraqi security, police and military forces.

Meanwhile Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said of the verdict:

“He is facing the punishment he deserves. The verdict placed on the heads of the former regime does not represent a verdict for any one person. It is a verdict on a whole dark era that has was unmatched in Iraq’s history.”

The Arabic news agency Al Jazeera is questioning the verdict asking, “Was the timing of Saddam’s verdict rigged for Bush?”

“This court is a creature of the U.S. military occupation, and the Iraqi court is just a tool and rubber stamp of the invaders,” insisted Dulaim, Saddam’s defense attorney.

Many experts and political analysts questioned the credibility of the trial of Saddam and his codefendants…..

Al Jazeera also proclaimed that the US-influenced court sentenced Saddam to death.

Rights group Amnesty International condemned the death sentences, saying that the trial is a “shabby affair, marred by serious flaws”.

“This trial should have been a major contribution towards establishing justice and the rule of law in Iraq, and in ensuring truth and accountability for the massive human rights violations perpetrated by Saddam Hussein’s rule,” said Malcolm Smart, director of the Middle East and North Africa programme.

“In practice, it has been a shabby affair, marred by serious flaws that call into question the capacity of the tribunal, as currently established, to administer justice fairly, in conformity with international standards.”

Watch for U.S. papers like the New York Times and Washington Post to ask the same questions as Al Jazeera.

More to follow…..

Cross-posted @: Amy’s Blog: Bottom Line Up Front

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 5th, 2006 at 9:58 am and is filed under Author: Amy Proctor, Iraq, Law. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

11 Responses to “Saddam Death Verdict Sign of Iraq’s Progress”

Conservativeguy32 Says:
November 5th, 2006 at 11:35 am
This sentence will do nothing but cause a spark in violence and increase the number of young muslims that become exteremists, suicide bombers, and terrorists. They are making a martyr out of him…
PolCentre » » Life for the glorious nation, and death to its enemies! Says:
November 5th, 2006 at 11:58 am
[...] Related in blogs: Was There Ever A Question of Guilt? - Electric Venom Saddam Death Verdict Sign of Iraq’s Progress - California Conservative Rope. Bridge. Saddam. Some Assembly Required. AntiIdotarian Rottweiler Tags: Saddam, Saddam Hussein, Iraq, Saddam Trial, War In Iraq, Baghdad, Tikrit, Death Sentence [...]
Amy Proctor Says:
November 5th, 2006 at 12:08 pm
Conservativeguy32, if that’s true, Iraq is 8 hours ahead of us in the time zone. Where’s the violence? There is spotty protesting but no violence.

Just about everyone wanted Saddam gone.
Squiggler Says:
November 5th, 2006 at 1:31 pm
Saddam: Death by hanging! …

FNC — Saddam Hussein Sentenced to Die by Hanging It’s official! Finally! Will DNC Chairman Howard Dean and Senator Jay Rockefeller celebrate with the Iraqis today? They both think Iraq would be better off with Saddam still in power. CNN’s Ted Turner…
Unpartisan.com Political News and Blog Aggregator Says:
November 5th, 2006 at 8:02 pm
Bush hails verdict as milestone for Iraq

…

President Bush celebrated Saddam Hussein’s death sentence as a victory for “Iraq’s young democracy” …
The Amboy Times Says:
November 5th, 2006 at 10:59 pm
Saddam: Hang ‘em High…

Saddam sentanced to death by hanging. Three and a half years after American troops captured Baghdad and ended the dictatorship of Saddam Saddam, the Iraqi court set up to judge the brutalities of his 24 years in power sentenced him…
Stop Bush! Says:
November 6th, 2006 at 12:14 am
Here’s a “liberal” for you:

For me, punishing a crime with another crime — which is what killing for vindication is — would mean that we are still at the point of demanding an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” he [Cardinal Renato Martino, head of the Vatican's Council for Justice and Peace] was quoted as saying by Italian news agency Ansa… “Unfortunately, Iraq is one of the few countries that have not yet made the civilised choice of abolishing the death penalty,” said Martino…

And of what crime was Saddam found guilty?

Mr. Hussein was convicted for 148 deaths — a number that is not all that far from the daily death toll in today’s Iraq, which hovers around 100…”He’s a murderer, he’s a dictator, but now we have many tyrants,” said a teacher in Adhamiya, who, like many in Baghdad these days, did not want to give her full name because she was afraid.

Of course, being CONservatives, you can’t just be happy that Saddam was found guilty; you have to politicize it. Not because:

The verdict, however, will be felt by many in Iraq as another in a series of divisive jabs in the ongoing battle between Iraq’s long-oppressed majority Shiite Muslims and once-powerful Sunni Arabs now incensed over their loss of centuries-old dominance.

but because:

…when asked about the verdict on the November 2 edition of CNBC’s Kudlow and Company, White House press secretary Tony Snow said, “You are absolutely right, it will be a factor” in the U.S. elections.

So, Tony Snow admits the verdict’s timing was purposefully scheduled to coincide with the midterms. Bad Tony.

And of course, Bush would never time such an announcement… would he?

Sept. 6 2006: The timing of last week’s announcement, just before the fifth anniversary of 9/11, was no accident. It allowed the White House to showcase its successes in capturing terrorists, and to put pressure on Congress to quickly approve the tribunals. “There were obviously messaging opportunities,” says a senior Bush aide. “We could sit back and let the war be defined by the media and our critics, or we can define it ourselves.”

the Bush administration planned to delay major assaults on insurgent strongholds in Iraq until after the 2004 U.S. presidential election, fearing large numbers of U.S. military casualties.

In 2005, former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said that there were times during his tenure when the administration pressured the Department of Homeland Security into raising the terror threat level, even though there was little evidence warranting such a move…Ridge often disagreed with administration officials who wanted to elevate the threat level to orange, or “high” risk of terrorist attack, but was overruled.

MSNBC’s Countdown, host Keith Olbermann documented 13 “coincidences” — instances characterized by “a political downturn for the administration, followed by a ‘terror event’ — a change in alert status, an arrest, a warning.”

So, I guess if you define wishful thinking as a repeated series of events that show a pattern of deception, it is just wishful thinking that the verdict was announced today.

Thankfully, Iraq is under lockdown with a curfew in place, and virtually every neighborhood is quiet. Must be an unusually quiet time in Iraq. Too bad Rummy couldn’t have planned the invasion as well as the announcement of the verdict.

Of course, if you really look at the potential impact, it could actually help democrats since any time Iraq is on the front page, the democrats benefit. Now I suppose you’ll say it was timed to coincide with the elections…
jebby Says:
November 6th, 2006 at 1:48 am
SB,

“Of course, if you really look at the potential impact, it could actually help democrats since any time Iraq is on the front page, the democrats benefit.”

You got it right. Why would the democrats want to see peace in the middle east, it only makes the repubs look better.

This is why the lefty-media begins each television show with blood and carnage and never once focus on building schools, or anything positive. However, wait till the Dem pres gets in then its all positive pres-stuff all the time and anything bad is pushed back to the end of the show, that is if they still have time after running all the positive stuff – mostly made up or lied about.
Rob Says:
July 18th, 2007 at 8:32 pm
Aljazeera.com is unrelated to the satellite TV channel Al Jazeera,
which operates websites in both Arabic ( http://www.aljazeera.net ) and English english.aljazeera.net (i.e. Aljazeera TV sites are hosted at .NET not .COM). The people who own Aljazeera.com have no connections to aljazeera TV channel.

For more info, have a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aljazeera.com
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Saddam Death Verdict Sign of Iraq’s Progress

11 Responses to “Saddam Death Verdict Sign of Iraq’s Progress”

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