Saddam Hussein Trial

[Simotix]

We all know Suddam is on trial, though I just recently noticed something (quoted from ABC NEWS) -


Saddam and seven others face charges that they ordered the killing in 1982 of nearly 150 people in the mainly Shiite village of Dujail, north of Baghdad, after a failed attempt on the former dictators life.

When Lincoln was killed, the people associated with John Wilkes Booth in the plot were all executed. Basically, the US killed those associated with a plot to kill their own. Is that not what Suddam is being trialed for? Did Saddam not do the same thing America did?

[ReD_ReBeL]

well they werent all necceserly involved, some1 from a village tried to kill Saddam, and Saddam and his men went on a rampage in the village killing any1 even children apprently

[WUOrevolt]

They face many more charges than just that one.

Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and a fascist and I am glad to see him on trial for his crimes. However, the American and British forces are doing similar things his regime did, just not in the magnitude and horrid nature Saddam did it.

The people of Iraq had to liberate themselves, and there were even attempts, such as the Guerrilla warfare in the streets of Baghdad in the 70's as well as the armed resistance in the countryside in the 80's, both of which I believe the Iraqi Communist Party and various other leftist were involved in.

[WUOrevolt]

The guerrilla warfare and armed resistance in Iraq are both covered in the book A People's History of Iraq by llarrio Sallucci.

www.haymarketbooks.org

I have not read the whole thing but the parts that I have read I liked.

(You can also search for "Party of Martyrs" as well as Iraqi Kurdish revolt of 1991)

[khalam_1232000]

thats bullshit, saddam was not involved in any murders, nor did he order any, it was an uprising and his military won, they are not going to call the victor of a battle kind and gentle, the entire trial is bullshit, saddam is still president no matter how many elections they have

[Noah]

thats bullshit, saddam was not involved in any murders, nor did he order any, it was an uprising and his military won, they are not going to call the victor of a battle kind and gentle, the entire trial is bullshit, saddam is still president no matter how many elections they have

Saddam was involved in murders and he did order murders. Just look at the families that have had to flee, the women or children were involved in no uprising. Saddam was a dictator and he killed anyone who wasn't in his party (that's not uprising). I've lost about over 20 relatives in Iraq mainly due to Saddam and the only reason was because they wouldn't join his party the Ba'athists.

He ordered his military to go out and kill those who didn't join the Ba'athists, he also ordered the execution of their families, I lost .. 2 cousins in execution.

Alternatively what he'd do is he ordered his military to get all those who weren't Ba'athist, torture them and make them drink an Iraqi yoghurt drink which was poisoned. The only way to stop the poison was to pump out the stomach but Saddam passed a law saying no one who had the symptoms of the poison could get their stomach pumped.

That is murder. Saddam was a tyrant.

PS. leftistmarleyist, i'm glad you recognise the communist uprising in Iraq, my dad fought for the communists in Iraq along with other relatives.

[ReD_ReBeL]

:wacko: my god did i really see sum1 above just defend Saddam and say he has never killed nor ordered peoples death? i thought this was a leftist forum not a facist one, yesterday in his trial he compared himself to Mussolini, that shows he got evil on his mind

[Simotix]

Just would like to say I do not support Saddam, was just trying to compare issues with what I know.

[fernando]

In Holland there is this dude on trail for selling the main components to produce mustard gas (chemical weapon)...now that guy goes all like "oh...I didnt know you could make mustard gas with that...ooh me.." :rolleyes:

[Fidelbrand]

I just think Saddam looks quite charimatic, and the trila shouldbe as fair as possible instead of mere humiliations and disrespects.

[Noah]

I hope they don't give him the death penalty, I think that will give him an easy punishment.

He's enjoyed his life and killing him now will only give him an easy way out, they should simpyl sentence him to life so he will have to live with his wrongs.

[KC]

Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and a fascist and I am glad to see him on trial for his crimes. However, the American and British forces are doing similar things his regime did, just not in the magnitude and horrid nature Saddam did it.

Are you fucking kidding me? America has killed thousands more Iraqi's than Saddam has. Saddam's crimes are a joke compared to the horrors that the American government has put the Iraqi people through.


In Holland there is this dude on trail for selling the main components to produce mustard gas (chemical weapon)...now that guy goes all like "oh...I didnt know you could make mustard gas with that...ooh me.."


Huh? What's that have to do with Saddam?

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

Right, the US has killed over 100,000 Iraqis in this campaign alone and the blockade on Iraq was responsible for the deaths of over a million Iraqi men, women, and children. When will the US be tried for those crimes?

The trial against Saddam is a farse, and you don't have to support him or his actions to know that.

There are far worse things that he's accussed of, but those won't be brought up on charges because the U.S. backed him and sold him weapons during those times.

[fernando]

Are you fucking kidding me? America has killed thousands more Iraqi's than Saddam has. Saddam's crimes are a joke compared to the horrors that the American government has put the Iraqi people through.
We need numbers..if I recall correctly Saddam was responsible for about 100 thousand deaths..


Huh? What's that have to do with Saddam?
Guess who used that gas to kill people ;)

[KC]

We need numbers..if I recall correctly Saddam was responsible for about 100 thousand deaths..


Good luck finding numbers for deaths Saddam is responsible for. I have seen the numbers for the sanctions and the blockade, but I can't find them right now. I do remember, though, that the US is responsible for hundreds of thousands more Iraqi deaths than Saddam.



Guess who used that gas to kill people

The Germans against the Canadians in 1917
The British in 1918
United Kingdom against Bolsheviks in 1919
United Kingdom against Iraqi rebels in 1920
Spain against Morocco in 1923-1926
Soviet Union in a province of China in 1930
Italy against Ethiopia in 1935-1940
Japan against China in 1937-1945
Egypt against North Yemen in 1963-1967
Iraq against Iran in 1983-1988
Iraq against Kurds in 1988

Please don't take subjects off on tangents.

[Noah]

Right, the US has killed over 100,000 Iraqis in this campaign alone and the blockade on Iraq was responsible for the deaths of over a million Iraqi men, women, and children. When will the US be tried for those crimes?


Unfortunately comrad, the US won't be tried, not in the forseeable future anyway because they are simply too powerful.

What I really want to ask you is, can you direct me to some links you might recommend about the Iraqi blockade, I've not heard much of it. Thankyou.


The trial against Saddam is a farse

I meant not to be rude but what does 'farse' mean? Can't find it in the dictionary.

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

What I really want to ask you is, can you direct me to some links you might recommend about the Iraqi blockade, I've not heard much of it. Thankyou.

"In a May 12, 1996 broadcast of the CBS news program "60 Minutes," Albright, then the US ambassador to the United Nations, was interviewed by Lesley Stahl. "We have heard that half a million children have died," Stahl said. "That is more than died in Hiroshima. I mean, is the price worth it?" Albright replied without hesitation: "We think the price is worth it."

"December 1995: "More than one million Iraqis have died--567,000 of them children--as a direct consequence of economic sanctions," the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported. It went on to state, "As many as 12 percent of the children surveyed in Baghdad are wasted, 28 percent stunted and 29 percent underweight."

http://www.wsws.org/news/1998/feb1998/albf23.shtml


I meant not to be rude but what does 'farse' mean? Can't find it in the dictionary.

Alternate spelling of "farce"; "A ludicrous, empty show; a mockery: The fixed election was a farce."

[Doshka]

Hey everyone. Sorry I haven't been writing for a while...like 2 years actually, and I don’t know anyone here. I don't even know when this became revolutionaryleft.com. I used to post on che-lives.com directly, but whatever. I am Palestinian, a highschool senior, and I live in Amman right now. Look, Saddam was a tyrant and an autocrat, and as such he most certainly did commit many crimes. I don't think that the point should be comparing him with America or any other such nonsense. Just because someone commits a worse crime does not make his any better. Since when do crimes get ruled out by comparison? Right now, his trial is a joke. Not only did they kill off his lawyers and assign a Kurd as justice, but they stooped to steal the man's noted paper as well. I mean it's ridiculous. A woman giving her testimony behind a tent with an electronically altered voice (who knows what's under there), another witness is dead and somehow his testimony is still valid...it's theatre. And bad theatre at that.

Also, even the New York Times published something about Iran and Saudi Arabia having a lot more to do with Saddam's crimes than what is commonly published. I read the article translated into Arabic and I really cant be fucked to find it in English right now, but if any of you actually want it I will. The death toll that the USA is responsible for in Iraq, though ridiculously high, is unrelated to Saddam's crimes, which were specific and often barbaric.

It is hard for me to write this. Iraq was the sun in the Middle East, and Baghdad our Paris. It was an honor to study there. Since first grade, Iraqis have been my piano instructors, my swimming coaches for the national team, my rugby coaches, my art teachers. They were always the best at everything. And Saddam was, despite everything, a symbol. Just as Arafat was a father, a hero, and an embodiment of our struggle as Palestinians despite his many fuckups, Saddam was that for the Iraqis. It is hard to criticize him. It is even more hard as I watch this joke of a trial unfold.

[LA GUERRA OLVIDADA]

I can't believe so-called Leftists here are supporting Saddam.

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

Have you read anything in this thread?

[Doshka]

Oh shut up, nobody is supporting Saddam, but attacking him blindly is stupid. More extensive history reading might show you that the world is not black and white and to every tyrant in history are some good actions and qualities that must be mentioned if we are to be fair. Saddam built Iraq up at a time. He built a port there that remains one of the most modern and developed ports there are. He built schools and enhanced the education system there tremendously. And there were other things. Of course, all this went to shit when he decided to listen to the US and attack Iran in the first gulf war. then Kuwait in the second. But to deny it is ignorance, and I'd rather be an educated "so-called" leftist, with intellect as well as weapons for my defense, than an ignorant "real leftist" with nothing but blind belief that something is bad.

[WUOrevolt]

I just wanted to clarify, I made a mistake in an earlier post.

The first episodes of guerrilla warfare in Iraq began in 1994, not the 1970's like I had posted before.

[deak]

i've been secretly crossing my fingers, hoping that some shit will come out of this trial that will bring to light the hypocracies of decades of U.S./Iraqi relations. I also hoped that this would become a great global embarassment. But after seeing how they cut the live feed of the trial simply when Saddam was *****ing about how he had to walk up 4 flights of stairs (and probably much worse but we didn't get to hear), I doubt even if shit does get said, it'll be such a closed and fake environment that anything truthful will get cut to comertials. Also, I'm not possitive how open these "trials" are to the public and forighn (non US and Brit) reporters. That could have a major impact on shit. Sadam was pretty shitty, but I have to say, he's a damn good speaker and if he exposes our lies, at least something good could come out of it.

[Creature]

All I have to say is it will be a farce trial.

[Guerrilla22]

Funny the country that supported him all throughout the 1980&#39;s is putting him on trial. <_<

[ReD_ReBeL]

<_< why are some of you people defending him? before some people start ranting on , yes i do the the US r just as bad aswell, but in his trial he compared himself to Mussolini, do you people like facists?

[deak]

it&#39;s not about defending him, it&#39;s about pointing out the hypocracy of the whole thing and the lies that are involved. sadam is no satan nor is he an angel, however, he is human and deserves a proper trial and to be heard. as westerners, i think it is very important that we listen to what he has to say, because it may prevent this horrible thing from happening again. I think that the trial shouldn&#39;t be about punishment, because how can you punish such things fairly, but used as a way for Iraqi&#39;s, and the rest of the world for that matter, as a way to bring closure and reconsiliation so that they may move on. I guess I would like to see something like the Reconciliation Project that was used after aparthied ended in South Africa. As a people, Iraq must come together and heal, not continue to drive steaks between eachother by blaming and inflicting retribution. However, as long as the US is involved, such a thing will never happen since the concept of forgiveness and understanding is totally forign to most Americans.

[jaster]

while i agree that saddamm hussein was a horrible person deserves to be tried for the war attrocities he comitted, i also belive that the current trial is a farce and the outcome is really negligible, because we all know what will happen to him. What i really want to see if his deals with the CIA in the mid-80&#39;s will be brought up, i mean how DID he get the wmd&#39;s, the ameicans of course in the war with Iran. also somthing else disturbs me, and that is tha lack of credible witnesses, i mean all the prosocution can come up with is all hersay, "my cousains landlord had his brother killed by saddamn.

[Guerrilla22]

Guess who used that gas to kill people

Guess where he bought the materials to make that gas? USA. I&#39;m not supporting Saddam, he&#39;s a fascist fuck, but the people who did support him in the Reagan administration need to be put on trial also.

[ComradeOm]

An update from the BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4613098.stm)

Saddam judge &#39;resigns from trial&#39;

The chief judge in the trial of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has tendered his resignation, reports say.

Judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin is angry at complaints from the Iraqi government that he has been too lenient on Saddam Hussein, Reuters news agency reports.

However, Judge Rizgar&#39;s resignation is reported to have not yet been accepted.

Tribunal officials are said to be trying to persuade him to remain as the judge overseeing Saddam&#39;s trial, for an alleged massacre in Dujail in 1982.

[Atlas Swallowed]

Why have a trial? Just give Saddam and Bush each a dull knife and let them hack each other to death(Saddam would win, Bush is a soft little coward and would probably piss himself). If only it worked that way.

Saddam came into power by the aid of the CIA. He became an enemy of the USA when the hawks needed an enemy. Saddam is guilty of betraying the people of Iraq by becoming one of many US backed tin-pot dictators.