Although i do accept that he was/is a "Bad man" Hanging isnt the right punishment. he did not directly kill 200 odd civilians although he did order the gassing. Therefore in my opinion he is guilty of Murder. HOWEVER, what about every other leader under the sun? To my knowledge US armed forces can not go into war without the signed consent of their commander and cheif and UK forces can not go into war without the consent of the Queen (which may be bypassed in times of need by the PM). If he should hang then there are a lot of people who shold hang as well! Saddam should have been delt with the LAST time (aka Gulf War 1).
Only the winners of war get away with state sanctioned murder. You kill one they call you a murderer, you kill a dozen they call you a psychopath, you kill an army and they call you a hero.
Nuremberg was a bit of a kangaroo court as well. We had the Russians, who had an impressive recent track record in war crimes, judging the Germans on their impressive recent track record in war crimes; there was the clear agenda that heads had to be seen to roll (or in this case, hang). Franz von Papen in particular, ever the soive, upper-class, well-educated, impeccably mannered diplomat, played the courts magnificently (as sociopaths do), showing eloquent remorse and idealistic innocence. He was one of only three* out of 21 accused to be acquitted. Much later it was found that his involvement and guilt were much more considerable than had been assumed. In that regard Saddam's defiance is a refreshing change. You know where you stand with the guy. Saddam is due to be tried for several other crimes, but despite the Iraqi Kurds' calling for him to be tried for the gassing of the town of Halabja in 1988, I bet we will not be going back that far in history. Best it is not mentioned who supplied him with the WMD to do his evil in the first place. Best start from 1990 onwards, when he stopped being our friendly tyrant, all shaking hands with Rumsfeldt. *The others being Hans Fritsche, head of radio propaganda, who exhibited great attrition and remorse, and Hjalmar Schacht, minister of economics, who himself fell out of favour with the Fuhrer and spent 10 months quality time in a concentration camp in 1944.
How has it taken all these years and why did he even need a trial. Its just delay tactics and wouldnt supprise me if hes broken out of jail before punishment is given. Hes been digging a tunnel from his cell for 3 years. Hes almost done. Its nice though isnt it. Free house and food and even TV with nice showers and clean clothes. Hes living it up and still alive. I dont get it
The price of being the Good Guy is that you have to be the Good Guy. Even (in fact, especially) when the other is being the Bad Guy. To uphold the rules of justice means living by them. This means that yes, he does get a fair trial and humane treatment. If we want to give Saddam the same treatment he gave his prisoners, that arguably makes us little better than he is.
