Saddam Hussein: Not a dictator?

[WSUCougar]

And in a related story, the judge ruled that the Oakland Raiders "look great."

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- The chief judge in Saddam Hussein's genocide trial said Thursday that he does not believe Hussein was a dictator.

Judge Abdullah al-Amiri made the remark in a friendly exchange with the deposed leader, a day after the prosecution said the judge should step down because he is biased toward the defense. Hussein and his co-defendants are being tried on charges of committing atrocities against Kurds in northern Iraq nearly two decades ago.

Questioning a Kurdish witness Thursday, Hussein said, "I wonder why this man wanted to meet with me, if I am a dictator?"

The judge interrupted: "You were not a dictator. People around you made you (look like) a dictator."

"Thank you," Hussein responded, bowing his head in respect.

Two hours after the comment about Saddam, al-Amiri abruptly postponed the session until Monday for what he called "technical reasons," without having heard from a third scheduled witness. No further explanation was given.

Al-Amiri heads the five-judge panel that oversees the trial and will deliver the verdict. A Shiite Muslim in his mid-50s, he has been a judge for 25 years, serving a substantial portion of that time under Saddam's regime.

The panel will vote on guilt or innocence and a majority decision will be final.

Hussein lashed out Tuesday against what he called "agents of Iran and Zionism" and vowed to "crush your heads" after listening to Kurdish witnesses tell of the horrors allegedly committed by his fallen regime.

The next day, Chief Prosecutor Munqith al-Faroon demanded al-Amiri step down, accusing him of bias toward the deposed leader and his co-defendants.

"You allowed this court to become a political podium for the defendants," al-Faroon told al-Amiri.

The prosecutor said the judge was giving Hussein time to make "political" statements that were irrelevant to the proceedings.

On Thursday, the 57-year-old Kurdish witness testified that Hussein aggressively told him to "shut up" when he pleaded for the release of nine relatives who disappeared in an offensive on his northern Iraqi village nearly two decades ago.

"I told Saddam, 'Sir, my family members were arrested,"' farmer Abdullah Mohammed Hussein recounted.

"Saddam asked me where, and I told him, 'in my village.' Saddam said, 'Shut up. Your family is gone in the Anfal,"' the witness said, referring to Iraq's 1987-88 campaign to suppress a Kurdish revolt in northern Iraq.

He looked anxious as he gave the opening testimony in the fourth court session this week.

Abdullah Hussein said he had not been shy about arguing with the Iraqi president, whom he had been allowed to see in response to a plea he presented to local authorities in his village.

Speaking in Kurdish through an Arabic translator, the witness said Saddam Hussein told him, "Shut up. Don't talk anymore. Get out of here."

"I saluted him, saying, 'Yes, sir.' And I left. I consoled myself, thinking that Saddam may feel sorry for me and set my family free. I was very sad. But I really hoped he would release them," Abdullah Hussein said.

Previous witnesses said the remains of relatives who went missing during Operation Anfal were found in mass graves several years later. Some recalled how they survived chemical attacks allegedly carried out by Hussein's regime against the Kurdish population.

Hussein has accused the Kurdish witnesses of trying to sow ethnic division in Iraq by alleging chemical attacks and mass arrests in their villages during a crackdown in the late 1980s.

Hussein and six others, including his cousin "Chemical" Ali al-Majid, have been accused of genocide and other offenses in connection with Operation Anfal.

The prosecution alleges that about 180,000 Kurds died -- many of them civilians. Hussein and the others could face death by hanging if convicted.

[stevew]

Sadaam, you aren't a dictator sometimes.

[sachmo71]

I think we should our president to threaten all those who disagree with him with a good, still head crushing.

[Fonzie]

Aren't we all misunderstood from time to time?

[Flasch186]

Then they kissed, hugged, and went out to slaughter some Kurds together.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

... some Kurds

And some whey?

[Oilers9911]

Sheesh, murder thousands of your own people and you're branded for life.

[WSUCougar]

"[The dead] people around you made you (look like) a dictator."

Fixed

[Dutch]

Why didn't the media report all these deaths in body by body gory detail like they do today? Did nobody care back then or was the media banned from Iraq or something?

[JPhillips]

Good work Dutch!

[M GO BLUE!!!]

Is "Hussein" the Middle East equivelant of "Smith" or "Jones" or something like that? It seems that half the people over there are named either Hussein or Muhammad...

[Anthony]

is it not obvious that the judge is either:

1. scared for his life, thus he kisses Sadam's ass
2. is being paid off by Sadam's camp

this trial is such a farce. the prosecution accused the judge of being biased towards Sadam, and statements such as "You were not a dictator. People around you made you (look like) a dictator." just proove that.

[Flasch186]

Originally Posted by Dutch

media banned from Iraq or something?

there you go....Free press exists only in Freedom.

[Vegas Vic]

Where is Baghdad Bob? I'd be glad to get his opinion on this issue.

[Mustang]

Some people say that I’m a bad guy
They may be right, they may be right
But it’s not as if I don’t try
I just fuck up, try as I might

But I can change, I can change
I can learn to keep my promises I swear it
I’ll open up my heart, and I will share it
Any minute now I will be born again
Yes, I can change, I can change
I know that I’ve been a dirty little bastard
I like to kill, I like to mate, I like to sing
But it’s okay cuz I can change

See it not my fault that I’m so evil
It’s society, society
You see my parents were sometimes abusive
And it made, a prick of me

But I can change I can change
I can learn to keep my promises I know it
I’ll open up my heart, and I will show it
Any minute now I will be born again
Satan: But what if you never change
What if you remain a sandy little butthole
Suddam: Hey Satan
Don’t be such a twit Mother Theresa won’t have shit on me
Just watch, just watch me change
Here I go I’m changing

[Craptacular]

Think Saddam ever stood out on the front porch of one of his palaces in his Iraqi flag skivvies?

[M GO BLUE!!!]

Originally Posted by Vegas Vic

Where is Baghdad Bob? I'd be glad to get his opinion on this issue.

Hello... He's the judge!

[Arles]

Originally Posted by Vegas Vic

Where is Baghdad Bob? I'd be glad to get his opinion on this issue.

"Trial? There is no trial. I don't know where the American press gets this stuff. Saddam is simply taking a well-earned vacation."

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by Hell Atlantic

this trial is such a farce. the prosecution accused the judge of being biased towards Sadam, and statements such as "You were not a dictator. People around you made you (look like) a dictator." just proove that.

Yes, those are stupid words, but not all too important in the context of things. Being on trial for genocide doesn't require Saddam to be a dictator. They have to prove that Saddam was the man in charge when the mass murders took place. He might as well have been a democratic chosen leader. The real farce is that the thousands of bodies and/or missing people apparently are not enough proof for the tribunal that it happened, or somewhere they are missing a link of responsibility. If CNN reports genocide took place and Saddam is the dictator of Iraq, that doesn't immediately mean he was the one giving the orders.

(For good order, I'm not saying I think Saddam is innocent, because I don't.)