Battleangel

Seeing Saddam Hussein’s gaunt but vigilant face again made me realize just how much I’ve missed him in the media during the last year. Granted that he has had quite some time to polish his defence, his commentary was still quite witty:

• “I’m elected by the people of Iraq; the occupation cannot take that right away from me,” said Hussein, according to CNN, which also aired the tape. “This is all a theater; the real criminal is Bush,” he said, referring to the U.S. president.
• When asked if he could afford a lawyer, Saddam retorted: “Everyone says, the Americans say, I have millions of dollars stashed away in Geneva. Why shouldn’t I afford a lawyer?”
• “Everyone knows that this is a farce by Bush, the criminal, in an attempt to win the election”.
• Saddam refused to recognize that he was guilty of a crime in invading Kuwait in 1990, jabbing his finger towards the judge and saying: “I’m surprised you’re charging me with that as an Iraqi when everyone knows that Kuwait is part of Iraq.”
• “You are putting Saddam on trial when the Kuwaitis said they could buy Iraqi women for 10 dinars on the street. The Iraqi soldiers went to defend the honour of Iraq, so what right do these dogs have?” he said, drawing a reprimand from the judge.

Bold, defiant and unbending. My kind of qualities. I recognize that there must be a lot of malice towards Saddam Hussein. But who to side with is a no-brainer. It’s one man fighting the world. Weird as it might seem, I kind of admire the man. It is hard not to.

The question is still if you’re buying into the entire thing. Is the legal process fair and unbalanced? Can it ever be? Are people willing to disregard the rules as they see fit? Can bringing the death penalty to Iraq ever be a good thing even if it seems to be for a good cause? Are we even sure of what we are seeing in the media? Is this even the real Saddam? And if it is, is he still on the CIA payroll? If one should be sceptical it seems reasonable to begin at the beginning of this farce.

What did the US really bring to Iraq? Democracy? No .. just televised trials and the capital punishment. Mission accomplished. Silly.