Saddam - the charges

international | rights, freedoms and repression | opinion/analysis

Wednesday June 30, 2004 10:55

by Hilal

Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is to be turned over to the puppet Iraqi Government today, but what are the charges he will face?

Halabja: Cyanide gas

Jordanian lawyer Ziad al-Khasawana , who is part of a committee to defend Sddam Hussein expressed concern over his fate if handed over to his former enemies;

"It is not acceptable for a state that ends its occupation of a country to surrender its prisoners to any party," he said. He also expressed concern that the committee for his defence, which has been appointed by Saddams family ,has not been allowed see him or even know of his health conditions.

THE CHARGES

War against Iran and gassing 20,000 Iranians : Saddam invaded Iran and caused the death of over one million Iranians in the 1980's. The Islamic Republic of Iran wants to have him tried for this but also blames the west for both encouraging him to invade and for supplying him with the gas. As regards this charge he should face it with his CIA and US controllers.

Attacks on Kurds: in 1988 Saddam used cyanide gas on Halabja, killing around 5000. Later that year he rounded up around 100,000 Kurdish boys and men and slaughtered them. After the 1991 failed invasion of Kuwait he slaughtered tens of thousands of Kurds who has rebelled on US orders. In this charge too he acted with the assistance and complicity of US and British powers.

Invasion of Kuwait: this has already been covered in the terms of the UN sanctions and repayment to be made to the Kuwaiti thug-regime from Iraqi oil sales has also been agreed . Saddam was given the green light for the invasion by the US only the night before he invaded so they too should have to pay for the damage and theft of Kuwaiti property.

ISRAEL: they want him for the scuds he fired on Tela Aviv during the 1991 war. They also want him for funding martydom attacks by Palestinians against the Israeli state.

TORTURE/MURDER: in his repression of opposition Saddam was ruthless and he tortured and murdered many tens of thousands. The CIA was complicit in this as they gave him advice on who to kill. At one point , during the post-1991-war uprising the RAF actually overflew Saddams jet fighters as they slaughtered tens of thousands in eastern Iraq. At the time Robin Cook said when asked why the British had helped him put down the uprising they had supposedly encouraged, he said, "we can't just have anybody taking over power". The uprising in that part of Iraq was very close to Iranian Islamic Republic lines! Again , the western powers should also have charges to answer in this regard.

Weapons Inspections: The US is claiming he obstructed inspections even though he had supplied, as we now know, all info on his weapons before the present invasion, and only had a few missiles who were technically beyond their legal range- meaning they could hit ISRAEL. They also claim he expelled inspectors in the 1990's even though the well concealed fact is that the weapons inspectors were thrown out because the US had placed CIA spies on the team and they were found out. he New York Times even had it front page that day..." US spies found on UN inspection team". Again the US need to take responsibility as they in fact were responsible for the collapse of inspections and not Saddam , who just held them to their agreed terms .

ENVIRONMENTAL: He ruined Gulf wildlife when he lit dozens of oil wells on his withdrawal from Kuwait. He also caused irrepable damage to the unique marshes of the Marsh Arabs when they followed US orders to revolt.

Meanwhile Saddam lives in luxury in one of his palaces surrounded by loyal guards. These are his conditions for a tentative peace in the "Sunni Triangle". He is still a major gangster and the CIA have been forced to deal with him pragmatically in order to gain some apparent military calm they can sell as military success back home. He has his generals back running loyal towns like Tikrit, Ramadi and Falluja and his fleet of many thousand oil smuggling tankers have never slowed down , running oil to Iran, Jordan, Turkey and even Israel non-stop.

So the US can convict or kill him by their proxy government but if he is removed they will find it much harder to control the insurgents who seek Islamic revolution. He is still "their son of a bitch". They need the old knee-breaker a while longer so prepare for a long and media-friendly sham trial..........I guess, before they run him out of town at the tip of a catle prod.