CAN SADDAM GET A FAIR TRAIL UNDER AMERICAN OCCUPATION
Ramsey Clarke, a former Attorney General of the United States, has joined the international team that is now defending Saddam Hussain. It is not an easy task to defend Saddam Hussain in Iraq as 4 of his lawyers have already been shot. However, afair trail according to the standards of existing jurisprudence is something that even Saddam is entitled to. Making the former Preident of Iraq accountable for crimes against humanity on the basis of the alleged violence against the Kurds during the aftermath of the first Gulf War is akin to making George Bush II personally liable for the crimes committed by thwe US troops against unarmed civillians in Fallujah, Bagdad and Mosul. Obviously it is difficult to establish personal liability for acts of state. Ramsey Clarke one of the most distinguished jurists in the US had this to say to the Iraqi judge presiding over the trial of the former President of Iraq:"There is a huge foreign military occupation, and even brother and brother are killing each other. The trial can either divide or heal, and so far it is irreconcilablyndividing the people of Iraq".
Liberals will find it difficult to understand the motives of men like Ramsey Clarke. In the Manichean world view of Bush and his Bushmen, the world is divided into "good freedom loving Americans" and evil "Islamic terrorists". This king of binary division into good and bad is not only unrealistic but dangerously flawed. It assumes that there is no other perspective from which to evaluate the critical issues of our time. For one thing American War on Iraq is not just illegal but a very convincing case can be made out to indict those responsible for the invasion for "crimes against peace" and if we take Abu Gharaib and Fallujah into focus even crimes against humanity. Further, the basic standard of fairness that the man charged has to be confronted with specific actions for which he is responsible by action aor inaction has to be presented. This has not been done so far. Third the evidence that is collected has to be relatively uncontamninated by fraud or special pleading.
Ramsey Clarke is convinced that conditions for afair and free trail do not exist in Bagdad. Charged along with Saddam Hussain is Tariq Aziz who is known all over the world as a scholarly and highly educated humanist. Even those opposed to Tariq Aziz politically do not accuse him of any wrongdoing. He served as the Deputy Prime Minister of a lawful legitimate government and was not part of any coterie in Bagdad.
I salute Ramsey Clarke for standing up to principles. Let me add: I am not a defender of Saddam Hussain nor am I enamoured of his kind of macho political regime. However, I feel that Justice must not only be done, but also seen to be done.