I strongly recommend that you watch this BBC Newsnight report, about the missing billions of aid that was meant to help rebuild Iraq.
The American and Iraqi people seem to have been well and truly conned by some extremely unpleasant and dishonest people.
They should ask some very hard questions of the Administration in Washington as to where the money went, and how this disgrace was allowed to continue unchecked.
Some very senior people have a lot to answer for here.
View Iraq's Missing Billions.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Saddam Testifies
Saddam Hussein took the stand for the first time at his trial yesterday.
Needless to say he made the most of it, and grandstanded by inciting "insurgents" to fight the US and other non Iraqi forces in the country.
The judge, at this point, decided that it was best to close the session to the press and public.
Saddam chose to ignore the charges that he was on trial for, and instead gave a 50 minute rambling monologue.
I would question as to why he was allowed to do this.
Saddam kicked off by saying:
"O Iraqis, in your resistance to the invasion by the Americans and Zionists and their allies, you are great in my eyes and will remain so.
It is only a short time before the sun will rise and you will be victorious. "
Judge Raouf Rasheed Abdel Rahman, fearful of the near civil war that is threatening to tear Iraq apart, shut off Hussein's microphone nine times before closing the court.
The judge said:
"You are being tried in a criminal case for killing innocent people, not because of your conflict with America."
Saddam answered:
"Just yesterday 80 people were killed in Baghdad.
Are they not innocent?"
Saddam seems to be conveniently forgetting that many of the current deaths are attributable to his "loyalists", acting under his last instructions given to them before he was ousted.
Saddam went on to mock the judge and the trial. He called the judge "your highness" and called the trial a "comedy", still claiming to be president.
He went on to tell the Iraqis to stop fighting, and unite against the occupiers lest:
"you will live in darkness and rivers of blood for no reason."
The judge ordered that Saddam stop making political speeches, to which Saddam retorted:
"If it were not for politics, I would not be here, and you would not be here."
Chief prosecutor Jaafar Mousawi tried to lecture Saddam, at which point the defence team intervened, prompting the judge to scream at them and at Saddam.
The trial is now adjourned until the 5th of April.
Needless to say he made the most of it, and grandstanded by inciting "insurgents" to fight the US and other non Iraqi forces in the country.
The judge, at this point, decided that it was best to close the session to the press and public.
Saddam chose to ignore the charges that he was on trial for, and instead gave a 50 minute rambling monologue.
I would question as to why he was allowed to do this.
Saddam kicked off by saying:
"O Iraqis, in your resistance to the invasion by the Americans and Zionists and their allies, you are great in my eyes and will remain so.
It is only a short time before the sun will rise and you will be victorious. "
Judge Raouf Rasheed Abdel Rahman, fearful of the near civil war that is threatening to tear Iraq apart, shut off Hussein's microphone nine times before closing the court.
The judge said:
"You are being tried in a criminal case for killing innocent people, not because of your conflict with America."
Saddam answered:
"Just yesterday 80 people were killed in Baghdad.
Are they not innocent?"
Saddam seems to be conveniently forgetting that many of the current deaths are attributable to his "loyalists", acting under his last instructions given to them before he was ousted.
Saddam went on to mock the judge and the trial. He called the judge "your highness" and called the trial a "comedy", still claiming to be president.
He went on to tell the Iraqis to stop fighting, and unite against the occupiers lest:
"you will live in darkness and rivers of blood for no reason."
The judge ordered that Saddam stop making political speeches, to which Saddam retorted:
"If it were not for politics, I would not be here, and you would not be here."
Chief prosecutor Jaafar Mousawi tried to lecture Saddam, at which point the defence team intervened, prompting the judge to scream at them and at Saddam.
The trial is now adjourned until the 5th of April.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Denials
Saddam Hussein's half brother, Barzan al-Tikriti, appeared in court today. He denies that he ordered the arrests of 148 villagers, who were later executed.
Quote:
"I didn't order the arrest of any one, and I didn't interrogate any one.
I didn't supervise any interrogation, and I didn't read any memos."
He read verses from the Koran during his testimony, saying:
"All this time I have been held for a political reasons, for reasons without foundation."
Al-Tikriti claimed that he did not know why he had been arrested:
"In two weeks I will have spent about three years in prison
I was put in prison, and I didn't know what crime I was accused of."
The trial continues.
Quote:
"I didn't order the arrest of any one, and I didn't interrogate any one.
I didn't supervise any interrogation, and I didn't read any memos."
He read verses from the Koran during his testimony, saying:
"All this time I have been held for a political reasons, for reasons without foundation."
Al-Tikriti claimed that he did not know why he had been arrested:
"In two weeks I will have spent about three years in prison
I was put in prison, and I didn't know what crime I was accused of."
The trial continues.
Human Rights
Europe's human rights court has dismissed the lawsuit filed by Saddam Hussein, as it falls outside of its jurisdiction.
Saddam had tried to sue the 21 European countries, whose troops had joined the US led coalition. He claimed that his arrest, detention and handover to Iraqi authorities for prosecution violated the European Convention on Human Rights.
Did Saddam care so much for the human rights of his own people, when he was in power?
Saddam had tried to sue the 21 European countries, whose troops had joined the US led coalition. He claimed that his arrest, detention and handover to Iraqi authorities for prosecution violated the European Convention on Human Rights.
Did Saddam care so much for the human rights of his own people, when he was in power?
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Death Sentence Admission
Awad Hamed Bandar, Saddam Hussein's leading judge, admitted yesterday that he sentenced 148 Shia men to death in 1984 after a two week trial.
However, he also admitted that some may have been executed before the trial began.
The prosecution are trying to show that the 1984 trial was a predetermined act of vengeance, that qualified as a crime against humanity. They claim that the trial did not summon the defendants to appear, but simply used intelligence files of their alleged confessions and summarily issued death sentences.
Bandar denied this, and said that the defendants were present with lawyers, and the trial was conducted according to law.
Judge Raouf Rasheed Abdel Rahman asked:
"How were you able to try 148 people in two weeks when in this trial it takes three hours to take the statement of one defendant?"
Bandar replied:
"We were at war with Iran.
The defendants confessed that they acted against the president on orders from Iran.. If you were in my place, you would have done the same."
Judge Abdel Rahman added:
"In this trial, you and your lawyer have had 100 objections.
How could you manage [to finish] in two weeks?"
Bandar replied:
"The court had a right to make decisions in one session if the defendant confessed."
Abdel Rahman, not unreasonably, asked how 148 were able to fit into one courtroom at the same time. Needless to say Bandar claimed that the room was large.
Jaafar Mousawi, the prosecutor, produced two handwritten documents from the intelligence police files. One said 46 of the 148 Dujayl suspects had been "liquidated during interrogation" before the trial. The other document listed 11 defendants between the ages of 12 and 17, which is under the legal minimum for prosecution by the court.
Bandar played ostrich at this point, and stuck his head in the sand refusing to look when they were projected onto a screen in the courtroom.
Jaafar Mousawi asked:
"The Revolutionary Court issued death sentences after the defendants were already dead?
Isn't that strange?"
Bandar replied, contradicting his earlier statement that the had all stood trial:
"Is it so strange and surprising that someone might die in interrogation?"
Bandar also claimed that he could not remember the ages of the defendants, then admitted that he had not checked.
The absence of any mention of the defendents in the transcripts of the 1984 trial was attributed by Bandar to a typing error.
Saddam is expected to testify this week.
However, he also admitted that some may have been executed before the trial began.
The prosecution are trying to show that the 1984 trial was a predetermined act of vengeance, that qualified as a crime against humanity. They claim that the trial did not summon the defendants to appear, but simply used intelligence files of their alleged confessions and summarily issued death sentences.
Bandar denied this, and said that the defendants were present with lawyers, and the trial was conducted according to law.
Judge Raouf Rasheed Abdel Rahman asked:
"How were you able to try 148 people in two weeks when in this trial it takes three hours to take the statement of one defendant?"
Bandar replied:
"We were at war with Iran.
The defendants confessed that they acted against the president on orders from Iran.. If you were in my place, you would have done the same."
Judge Abdel Rahman added:
"In this trial, you and your lawyer have had 100 objections.
How could you manage [to finish] in two weeks?"
Bandar replied:
"The court had a right to make decisions in one session if the defendant confessed."
Abdel Rahman, not unreasonably, asked how 148 were able to fit into one courtroom at the same time. Needless to say Bandar claimed that the room was large.
Jaafar Mousawi, the prosecutor, produced two handwritten documents from the intelligence police files. One said 46 of the 148 Dujayl suspects had been "liquidated during interrogation" before the trial. The other document listed 11 defendants between the ages of 12 and 17, which is under the legal minimum for prosecution by the court.
Bandar played ostrich at this point, and stuck his head in the sand refusing to look when they were projected onto a screen in the courtroom.
Jaafar Mousawi asked:
"The Revolutionary Court issued death sentences after the defendants were already dead?
Isn't that strange?"
Bandar replied, contradicting his earlier statement that the had all stood trial:
"Is it so strange and surprising that someone might die in interrogation?"
Bandar also claimed that he could not remember the ages of the defendants, then admitted that he had not checked.
The absence of any mention of the defendents in the transcripts of the 1984 trial was attributed by Bandar to a typing error.
Saddam is expected to testify this week.
Monday, March 13, 2006
Trial Resumes
The trial of Saddam Hussein resumed yesterday, and the judge called in each defendant individually to present his testimony.
Mizhar Abdullah Ruwayyid, an official from Saddam's former ruling Ba'ath Party, was called before the judge.
He and chief justice Raouf Abdel-Rahman then began arguing.
Abdel-Rahman asked Ruwayyid to tell the court what he was doing on the day of the assassination attempt against Saddam, whose motorcade was fired on as he visited Dujail on July 8th 1982.
Ruwayyid said that he was working as a telephone operator, and that he held only a low-level position in the Baath Party at the time.
He denied earlier testimony from previous witnesses, who accused him of helping in the roundup of Dujail residents following the shooting.
Quote:
"What they said was untrue, because they had personal animosity toward me."
Today so far, Mohammed Azawi Ali, a Baath official accused of informing on Dujail residents, has given testimony.
Quote:
"I didn't detain anyone, not even a bug. I didn't write any reports about people, and if there is someone in Dujail who says this bring him here and let him face me.
I don't know why they brought me here."
The chief prosecutor presented signed testimony by Ali to investigators, Ali then said:
"Read it and let my father be cursed. What are they going to do, execute me? I am dying anyway from heart problems and ulcers."
The trial continues.
Mizhar Abdullah Ruwayyid, an official from Saddam's former ruling Ba'ath Party, was called before the judge.
He and chief justice Raouf Abdel-Rahman then began arguing.
Abdel-Rahman asked Ruwayyid to tell the court what he was doing on the day of the assassination attempt against Saddam, whose motorcade was fired on as he visited Dujail on July 8th 1982.
Ruwayyid said that he was working as a telephone operator, and that he held only a low-level position in the Baath Party at the time.
He denied earlier testimony from previous witnesses, who accused him of helping in the roundup of Dujail residents following the shooting.
Quote:
"What they said was untrue, because they had personal animosity toward me."
Today so far, Mohammed Azawi Ali, a Baath official accused of informing on Dujail residents, has given testimony.
Quote:
"I didn't detain anyone, not even a bug. I didn't write any reports about people, and if there is someone in Dujail who says this bring him here and let him face me.
I don't know why they brought me here."
The chief prosecutor presented signed testimony by Ali to investigators, Ali then said:
"Read it and let my father be cursed. What are they going to do, execute me? I am dying anyway from heart problems and ulcers."
The trial continues.
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