The Trial of Saddam Hussein and The Fallout of The War

The Trial of Saddam Hussein

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The fallout in the Middle East from the regime change in Iraq

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Bar-Ilan University, just outside of Tel Aviv, has awarded an honorary doctorate to billionaire Marc Rich, who was pardoned of tax evasion charges by President Clinton in 2001 and founded of an oil trading firm under investigation for dealings with Saddam Hussein.

In 1983, Rich left the U.S. for Switzerland after he was charged with tax evasion and illegal oil trading with Iran. Clinton pardoned Rich of all criminal charges on his last day in office in 2001.

In 2005, a commission investigating the U.N. oil-for-food scandal concluded the Marc Rich Group – a Swiss-based oil trading firm – illegally gave kickbacks to Iraqi officials under Saddam.

Swiss authorities launched an investigation, which is still ongoing. The company has denied the accusations.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Execution Reenacted

Those of you with a ghoulish sense of the macabre, may find an exhibition in the Indian capital of Mumbai to be to your taste.

A waxwork House of Horrors is showing a reenactment of Saddam Hussein's hanging.

As visitors walk along on an uneven pathway, a rubber replica of Hussein's head pops up with a noose tied around the neck. The head makes a snapping noise, to simulate the neck being broken.

The visitors then run into a masked actor chasing them with an axe. The 20-minute walk through costs about $4 per person.