Saddam in Court
They left the Presidential Palace, the Small Man walking calmly in the midst of his captors. ...Very badly handled, actually, he thought. The first thing the lieutenant should have done was smash me in the mouth with a rifle butt and then I wouldn't be strolling out of here with all this dignity. A prisoner must never be dignified, and it is extremely difficult to walk impressively with your teeth snapped off and your lips shredded and you still staggering from the blow.
--From "The Tent of the Wicked," by Robert Switzer (1956).
You may have noticed that, with jailing people having become an American fine art, both at home and abroad, their military police never allow their charges to be seen walking with dignity if they can at all help it. The prisoners are always heavily shackled and are escorted with guards on either side, as if the captives, regardless of age, are aged and decrepit and need support every step of the way. On the occasion of his court appearance a few days ago, Saddam Hussein was no exception, though one wonders how fast and how far a degenerated, easily recognizable guy in his late 60's can be expected to run.
But in the temporary handover of Saddam to the Iraqis and in the interest of courtroom decorum, the GI's had to take the shackles off their prize prisoner and reluctantly stand aside, upon which Saddam immediately reverted to what they could never take from him, which is his position in his own mind as the lifetime highest authority among his people.
I can't imagine that anyone in the Bush camp can be happy with Saddam's performance in the courtroom. He was as proud and defiant as ever, and he immediately swept away any idea that he had been permanently humbled by the manner of his capture or by having had to walk in mincing little steps because of clanking chains binding his feet and hands.
Like Rambo powerfully resisting being fingerprinted in "First Blood," Saddam refused to sign anything, and no one tried to force him. He appeared without his lawyers present, and he said what he wanted to say, which was mainly that trying him was merely theater being staged by Mr. Bush. He also stated that he was still the President of Iraq, and no one tried to disabuse him of that notion either.
The judge had to bring up Saddam short when he called the Kuwaitis dogs, but otherwise I had the impression that the awe of his authority remained strongly implanted in those courtroom Iraqis as in Saddam himself, and it's going to be interesting to see how they will prosecute him effectively, even with -- or maybe also because of -- a reported 30 tons of documents on their table.
The people trying this case have a job on their hands. That's a LOT of documents to have to read, and meanwhile it's high risk to let Saddam be seen in a courtroom atmosphere. By the sheer force of his presence, he will win those rounds every time. He's had a lifetime of practice at sitting in the host chair. And since none of the charges had to do with the massive attacks he had poised to obliterate New York City and Podunk, Kansas, the American presence looks irrelevant, except for non-stick humiliation purposes -- a weak role, and you have to wonder what's in it for Mr. Bush. Most of the charges have to do with the Kurds, and regard for them and their aspirations don't often crop up in his speeches.
But trials don't come cheap, and this one is an example of how that is especially true on an international scale -- thousands of deaths and as much as a hundred billion dollars later.
--From "The Tent of the Wicked," by Robert Switzer (1956).
You may have noticed that, with jailing people having become an American fine art, both at home and abroad, their military police never allow their charges to be seen walking with dignity if they can at all help it. The prisoners are always heavily shackled and are escorted with guards on either side, as if the captives, regardless of age, are aged and decrepit and need support every step of the way. On the occasion of his court appearance a few days ago, Saddam Hussein was no exception, though one wonders how fast and how far a degenerated, easily recognizable guy in his late 60's can be expected to run.
But in the temporary handover of Saddam to the Iraqis and in the interest of courtroom decorum, the GI's had to take the shackles off their prize prisoner and reluctantly stand aside, upon which Saddam immediately reverted to what they could never take from him, which is his position in his own mind as the lifetime highest authority among his people.
I can't imagine that anyone in the Bush camp can be happy with Saddam's performance in the courtroom. He was as proud and defiant as ever, and he immediately swept away any idea that he had been permanently humbled by the manner of his capture or by having had to walk in mincing little steps because of clanking chains binding his feet and hands.
Like Rambo powerfully resisting being fingerprinted in "First Blood," Saddam refused to sign anything, and no one tried to force him. He appeared without his lawyers present, and he said what he wanted to say, which was mainly that trying him was merely theater being staged by Mr. Bush. He also stated that he was still the President of Iraq, and no one tried to disabuse him of that notion either.
The judge had to bring up Saddam short when he called the Kuwaitis dogs, but otherwise I had the impression that the awe of his authority remained strongly implanted in those courtroom Iraqis as in Saddam himself, and it's going to be interesting to see how they will prosecute him effectively, even with -- or maybe also because of -- a reported 30 tons of documents on their table.
The people trying this case have a job on their hands. That's a LOT of documents to have to read, and meanwhile it's high risk to let Saddam be seen in a courtroom atmosphere. By the sheer force of his presence, he will win those rounds every time. He's had a lifetime of practice at sitting in the host chair. And since none of the charges had to do with the massive attacks he had poised to obliterate New York City and Podunk, Kansas, the American presence looks irrelevant, except for non-stick humiliation purposes -- a weak role, and you have to wonder what's in it for Mr. Bush. Most of the charges have to do with the Kurds, and regard for them and their aspirations don't often crop up in his speeches.
But trials don't come cheap, and this one is an example of how that is especially true on an international scale -- thousands of deaths and as much as a hundred billion dollars later.
posted by Carl (aka Sofarsogoo) | 5:15 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home