The following is an archived copy of a message sent to a Discussion List run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
Views expressed in this archived message are those of the author, not of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
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Dear list members, The issue is not just that of Saddam. He is just one person. Rather, it is that of his bloody regime of the so-called Arab Ba'ath Socialist Party in Iraq. Nor is it an issue of how,where and by whom they should be tried. All the accused and most of the victims are Iraqi citizens first and foremost and most of the crimes were committed on Iraqi soil first, then in Iran and Kuwait.There is no shortage of either evidence or witnesses.The former is measured in tons or millions of pages of documents, scores of mass graves and thousands of villages destroyed.The latter number in hundreds of thousands of orphans,widows and parents, who lost their loved ones in the most brutal way without any of the rights now being advocatated for Saddam by his apologists and the loony left of the world.Where were these devil's advocates when the accused was presiding over an orgy of torture, rape and murder.We owe it to his victims to document their death certificates,how,when,where and and by whom they were killed. If and when found guilty, a life sentence would be most appropriate outcome.He should come face to face with his victims and be taken on a guided tour of the scenes of his crimes, accompanied by his apologists and representatives of the loony left of this world as observers. Yours sincerely, M T Ali -----Original Message----- From: casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk [mailto:casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk] On Behalf Of bluepilgrim Sent: 19 December 2003 11:50 To: CASI-discuss@lists.casi.org.uk Subject: Re: [casi] Prime Minister and mass graves At 04:12 AM 12/19/03, you wrote: >Dear Peter & List, > >The issue of putting Saddam on trial is indeed a very >complicated one. The article referred to by Muhammad >attempts to portray the trial of Saddam in Iraq as a >step towards returning sovereignty to the people of >Iraq. Forget about the fact that Iraq remains under >occupation; forget the Geneva conventions; forget that >the attack on Iraq was in itself a violation of >international law and a war crime; forget that only a >sovereign state can have a sovereign legal system... >How can a state be sovereign under occupation?? This is a very key point. What are the reasons for trying Saddam? Deterence for other would-be dictators? No -- that threat would never stop a man of great ambition. Justice? How is possible to sort out any idea of justice considering the complexity of circumstance? To keep Saddam from regaining power? He can hardly do that with the negative sentiment against him in Iraq, and the lack of US the support which he relied on to start. There are two (three) reasons. The first is to give a sense of satisfaction and resolution to the survivers of his brutality. The second is to establish a semblance of law and sanity, to try to re-establish standards of a leaders behavior and responsibility, and to help legitimize the presence of a real Iraqi government. For this to happen, an elected Iraqi government is required -- else it must be a farce. And the third reason -- that from the US point of view would be disasterous -- is to bring out all the facts. It is this consequence, which the US will resist, and by so doing defeat the first two purposes. A kangeroo court run by the US or its puppets can not resolve the issues, nor provide a sense of justice to the victims if the US support for Saddam is unanswered. Neither will satisfaction -- or retribution, of one wishes -- be satisfied unless the Iraqis make the judgements, and not an invader. A kangeroo court will also repress the evidence and testimony implicating the US and Europe in hold Saddam had, and in the role of the sanctions in providing him with a situation where his power was enhanced. The situation, then, is one where the only proper action is to put any trial on hold until the situation in Iraq is resolved and they have a real Iraqi government of their own making. Anything else must result in dissatisfaction, more pain and anger, confusion of issues and truths, and further strife among the Iraqi factions. Given Bush's propensity to rush into a situation blindly, and "follow his gut" (which is apparantly composed largely of the extreme ideologues who talk in his ear, and his strange pseudo-religious convictions), it is probable that the situation will be completely botched. It will be the "classic compromise" where no one will be happy with the outcome. _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk London Borough of Hackney may exercise its right to intercept any communication on its networks - for more information see http://www.hackney.gov.uk/council/data/email_disclaimer.htm _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk