Saddam circus heading back to town

The trial is set to get back underway tomorrow. They've picked another Kurdish judge to replace the one that fled. The whole judge controversy thing is a tad suspect:

But al-Hammash has been under pressure since the Iraqi official in charge of purging government of members of Saddam's former ruling Baath Party accused the judge of being an ex-Baathist.

Al-Hammash has denied belonging to the Baath Party, and a U.S. official has said the de-Baathification laws introduced after the 2003 toppling of Saddam don't apply to the tribunal.

Well, ok then.

Meanwhile, Ramsey Clark is heading back into the fray, and he's already had some harsh words for the court's setup:

"It's a creature of the U.S. military occupation, its statute was drafted by the U.S. and rubber-stamped later by people in the U.S. and supported all the time," he said.

As if having the most successful operator of modern democracy on earth involved in the setup is just horrible. Perhaps Clark would recommend using Saddam's model?

UPDATE 1/24/2006

The trial was delayed again. Seems too many witnesses were still busy with their Hajj pilgramiges to attend. The whole thing may be on the verge of unraveling.

As things remain chaotic expect to hear more nonsense from international busy-bodies like Ramsey Clark, who have the temerity to spout off stuff like this:

International human rights groups have said Saddam may not get a fair trial in the climate of sectarian and ethnic violence gripping Iraq since U.S. forces overthrew his Sunni Arab-dominated government in 2003.

"A fair trial"? We're talking about Saddam here. The folks not getting a fair trial are the Iraqi people--again. Not surprising that Clark and his international peacenik buddies would be against the little guy.

America set up this trial as a showcase for democracy, but so far it's been a showcase for Saddam's ever present grip. We started the process and must finish it, but he's moving us behind an eight ball more every day. We can't say 'the heck with it' and just hang the sucker, or stage an unfortunate accident or disease. Both roads are fraught with political peril.

And if they move the whole kit and kaboodle to the Hague the Ramsey Clarks of the world will take control and quickly put America on trial.

Guess we'll just have to settle for a continuation of Uncle Saddam's Circus and hope for the best. Like perhaps a meteorite hitting his jail cell.


REVENGE OF THE KURDS 1/25/2006

Apparently the new chief judge, Raouf Abdel Rahman, has a slight conflict of interest--he hails from Halabja, ground zero of Saddam's chemical gassing attack in the 80s. As one person put it,

"If Saddam is sentenced, the whole world will say that this is a revenge of the Kurds,"

Not sure that's necessarily a bad thing, though.

Meanwhile the natives are getting restless, and like many of us are frustrated with the process:

"The trial should not be that long. The crimes Saddam has committed are enough for him to be executed. Delaying the trial is another pain for Iraqis, who have already suffered a lot," said Ali Haider, a cleric in the Shi'ite holy city of Kerbala.

This man was brave. Many wouldn't speak publicly of the trial, even now, for fear of Saddam's retribution. After hearing media reports about John Murtha and friends talking about "leaving yesterday", then seeing hints from Rummy and Bush about troop draw-downs in 2006, who can blame them?

After all, one of the secret docs reportedly obtained by Stephen Hayes contained information given by Saddam to his insurgenet commanders before his capture--paraphrasing---"when you hear the US President talk of bringing the troops home, you'll know we've won".

MORE 1/25

This report might lift Saddam's spirits, since it goes towards his end-game. And Bin Laden's.

But I tend to agree with Rummy's response.