What A Shambles!

The trial of Saddam Hussein, heralded with a fanfare back in 2003 by the US, is now beginning to look like a kangaroo court set up by rank amateurs.

The cost to date, incurred by the US Regime Crimes liaison Office, is $128M.

What do they have to show for their money?

• A defendant who won't appear



• A trial only covering one small aspect of Saddam's time in office



• Murdered lawyers and threats to the remaining members of court



• A shortage of interpreters, the media have to supply their own



• Mismatched desks for defence counsel benches, and poorly hung curtains hiding witnesses



• No court record



• No stenographers to produce a transcript



• Witnesses whose testimony sounds barely credible



• There is even a very real possibility that Saddam could get off

Nehal Bhuta, an international justice expert with Human Rights Watch, said:

"We have always had concerns that the writing was on the wall. There are a number of serious difficulties with the tribunal ... It's a concern that the necessary experience is just not there."

Was the invasion really all for this?

People should hang their heads in shame over this farce. This trial, unless it is taken in hand swiftly, will not provide Iraq with a firm foundation for its future; it will merely create more instability in that already blighted country.