What are the odds that Hussein will make it to trial?

[Libertarian]

I'm no conspiracy nut, but I'd like to take the pulse of the group here on whether or not you think Saddam will make it to trial.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8298669/

Will he meet his end in his cell before trial? Will he be allowed to speak freely in court?

If you think the Downing Street memo is interesting, wait untill Saddam is chronicling his history with, and support from, the United States!

 

[Number Six]

Barring a sudden unexpected death Saddam will definitely make it to trial. Why would they not put him on trial? It's all positives and no negatives. And he's not going to be able to give long, rambling speeches so any sensitive info he might reveal is irrelevant.

 

[Luke T.]

I'm no conspiracy nut, but I'd like to take the pulse of the group here on whether or not you think Saddam will make it to trial.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8298669/

Will he meet his end in his cell before trial? Will he be allowed to speak freely in court?

If you think the Downing Street memo is interesting, wait untill Saddam is chronicling his history with, and support from, the United States!

And more recently China and Russia and Germany and France. So what?

 

[SezMe]

I think this is relevant. What is Saddam's primary language? Does he speak English? At all? What language would the trial be in?

 

[SezMe]

And he's not going to be able to give long, rambling speeches so any sensitive info he might reveal is irrelevant.

How do you know this? It won't be held under USA laws. Who knows what will be allowed?

 

[Number Six]

Well I kinda assumed it followed from reason considering the whole situation....the US is the "liberator"...the people that benefitted from the liberation are currently in power and will be calling the shots in the trial...and they have no reason to let Saddam smack the US while simultaneously having plenty of ground in other areas (atrocities, etc) to cover, which they'll want to cover in depth both to remind their people and he world what a bad guy Saddam was and to help legitimize themselves as his replacement.

What incentive do they have to let Saddam ramble on against the US? It just kinda seems like common sense to me that the Saddam trial is going to primarily make Saddam look bad rather than the US.

 

[Chaos]

Re: Re: What are the odds that Hussein will make it to trial?

And more recently China and Russia and Germany and France. So what?

Speaking for Germany only, may I politely ask you to realize that German corporations that traded with Iraq in violation of German law, and that were legally prosecuted for that, do NOT equal Germany?

 

[Random]

Well I kinda assumed it followed from reason considering the whole situation....the US is the "liberator"...the people that benefitted from the liberation are currently in power and will be calling the shots in the trial...and they have no reason to let Saddam smack the US while simultaneously having plenty of ground in other areas (atrocities, etc) to cover, which they'll want to cover in depth both to remind their people and he world what a bad guy Saddam was and to help legitimize themselves as his replacement.

What incentive do they have to let Saddam ramble on against the US? It just kinda seems like common sense to me that the Saddam trial is going to primarily make Saddam look bad rather than the US.

Well, Saddam might not have to ramble incoherently against the US in order to cause trouble. A quick throwaway line like, “Ronald Reagan told me to use chemical weapons against the Kurds, or he would cut my military support”, could cause just as many problems.

True or not, the trial could get real messy, real fast.

 

[Rob Lister]

Well, Saddam might not have to ramble incoherently against the US in order to cause trouble. A quick throwaway line like, “Ronald Reagan told me to use chemical weapons against the Kurds, or he would cut my military support”, could cause just as many problems.

True or not, the trial could get real messy, real fast.

True or not, it wouldn't change things one bit. Some/most all parts of the media might have a brief fieldday with it but only if it is an otherwise slow newsday. It wouldn't make things messy unless he could document that requirement by Reagan and, even then, would convict him by his own words. It would be the same as pleading guilty.

 

[Random]

True or not, it wouldn't change things one bit. Some/most all parts of the media might have a brief fieldday with it but only if it is an otherwise slow newsday. It wouldn't make things messy unless he could document that requirement by Reagan and, even then, would convict him by his own words. It would be the same as pleading guilty.

You’re talking about the reaction here in the states. In Iraq, Saddam Hussein saying he committed atrocities at the behest of the US government might make a bit more of an impression.

You’re also assuming that Saddam thinks he has some kind of chance here. He knows that what he has actually done is irrelevant. He is going to be convicted of whatever it is they are charging him with. His best hope right now is that he can get life imprisonment, which just isn’t gonna happen.

 

[Libertarian]

rue or not, it wouldn't change things one bit. Some/most all parts of the media might have a brief fieldday with it but only if it is an otherwise slow newsday. It wouldn't make things messy unless he could document that requirement by Reagan and, even then, would convict him by his own words. It would be the same as pleading guilty.

I disagree. I think if SH starts talking about U.S. policy, it will remind a lot of flag wavers who have amnesia that our hands our dirty. It will be the mother of all field days.

But you bring up an interesting point when you say. "unless he could document ..." ARE there any surviving documents? Even if there are, the chances of SH getting his hands on them are a bit slim, don't you think?

 

[Rob Lister]

You’re talking about the reaction here in the states. In Iraq, Saddam Hussein saying he committed atrocities at the behest of the US government might make a bit more of an impression.

You’re also assuming that Saddam thinks he has some kind of chance here. He knows that what he has actually done is irrelevant. He is going to be convicted of whatever it is they are charging him with. His best hope right now is that he can get life imprisonment, which just isn’t gonna happen.

Para 1: I think they pretty much expect him to say whatever he can say that will help bring us down and lift him up. That excludes your particular scenenro. Pick another.

Para 2: Don't bet on that. He's been in this situation before and managed to claw his way from Iraqi prison to supreme Iraqi ruler (I pity the guards that watched him). He won't give up, he won't give in. He'll spit in the eye of the guy that puts the noose around his neck (should that fate come to pass).

 

[Rob Lister]

I disagree. I think if SH starts talking about U.S. policy, it will remind a lot of flag wavers who have amnesia that our hands our dirty. It will be the mother of all field days.

But you bring up an interesting point when you say. "unless he could document ..." ARE there any surviving documents? Even if there are, the chances of SH getting his hands on them are a bit slim, don't you think?

Para1: When the trial starts there will be quite a bit of death and destruction from 'his' remaining camp, internal and external Iraq proper. There's a lot at stake.

Para2: No, not slim. Good in fact. Saddam has a copy of every document he needs in a safe place far away from U.S. hands and well within the hands of his lawyers. Well, that's my bet anyway. I doubt there's much to it though. What do you expect?

Dear Saddam,

Dude! I told you to gas those kurds, damit! Now get off your ass and do it to it! Don't worry about the fallout. We got your back.

Love, Ron.

Nope. Ain't gonna happen. The memo would never see the light of day even if it did happen. Sure, we'll see some of our larger business interests dragged through the mud. Maybe a senator or two. Possibly the leader of another third-world nation. Even a diplomat or three, but nothing major. Nothing earth-shattering.