Forensics Evidence

The court conducting Saddam Hussein's trial heard from Michael Trimble (a US forensic expert) this week, about the mass graves from the Anfal campaign.

The graves contained the corpses of hundreds of Kurdish women and children.

Mr Trimble said that the victims had been killed in a "highly organised programme of execution".

Mr Trimble, who heads the Mass Graves Investigation Team, said that our of 301 bodies found, 183 were those of children (90% being under 13 years old).

Quote:

"The captives were often bound and blindfolded. The captives were led into the grave and then executed with pistols or automatic assault rifle fire. The graves were then covered by those directing the execution."

The court was shown slides of a child whose legs were cut in half by a bullet. Another child had wounds to the front and back.

Mr Trimble said:

"It is very clear these people were twisting as they were getting shot at.

There is a terror that takes over as people try to get out of the way. It's a very common human response."

Saddam Hussein responded by saying:

"Let me suggest the court consider what is said by the American expert but also call a new trial expert that has nothing to do with the enemy or the army of the enemy."

The trial will resume on Monday.

Defence Lawyer Ejected

Saddam Hussein's defence lawyer, Badie Arif Ezzat, was ejected from court yesterday in another chaotic shambles.

Chief judge Mohammed Oreibi al-Khalifa ejected him for "insulting the court".

Badie Arif Ezzat was ejected after he tried to object to the foreign experts that the prosecution has called in to testify over the past two days. When he referred to the prosecution and judges as "brother", rather than by their titles, the chief judge warned him to respect the court.

However, Ezzat repeated the phrase and al-Khalifa ordered him removed and detained for 24 hours for "insulting the court."

There then followed a brief shouting match between the two, as guards escorted Ezzat out of the room.

The farce of a trial continues.

Trial Resumes

Saddam Hussein's trial resumed yesterday.

The court heard from two US residents who described how they survived shooting.

Taimor Abdallah Rokhzai described how, nearly twenty years ago, he watched as his mother and sisters were shot to death.

Quote:

"There was a trench. We were lined up. A soldier shot directly at us. I was hit on my shoulder."

Rokhzai now lives in Washington, said that during the shooting:

"I begged the soldier 'We are women and children. Why are you shooting us?'

I saw bullets hitting a woman's head and her brain coming out. I saw a pregnant woman shot and killed. It was horrible.

The shooting suddenly stopped. It was quiet. I was waiting to die. My whole body was covered with blood. The soldiers then went away. They were talking among themselves. I wanted to go to out from the trench. But a little girl asked me where I was going. I don't know her name but she was alive."

Rokhzai said he passed many trenches filled with bodies.

He kept on walking and that night he saw a tent with a light, where he was offered shelter. He moved from village to village until 1991, when the Kurdish autonomous zone was established under the protection of US and British forces.

Yunis Haji, a former Kurdish guerrilla fighter who now lives in Virginia, described a separate incident involving trenches full of dead people.

"Handcuffed and blindfolded, we (Kurdish detainees) were loaded into vehicles and taken to a remote area and dragged out.

I was pushed into a trench and was told to sit there. Suddenly, I was hit in the back. I fell unconscious, and when I woke up again, I pulled myself out of the trench and started running."

Chief judge Mohammed Oreibi al-Khalifa gave the defence team a further two days to submit a list of witnesses.

"You already had 20 days. I will give you two more days. No more and no less."

The trial continues today.

Saddam Knows Too Much

The Russian Liberal Democratic Party's deputy, Alexei Mitrofanov, believes that despite pleas to spare Saddam Hussein from the death sentence, he has no chances of dying from natural causes because he knows too much.

Quote:

"Hussein is a clear and present danger to the U.S. Republican Party. Information indicating that Hussein had ties with that political force during the last century may come in handy for the Democrats during the upcoming presidential election in the U.S.

Besides, some members of the Bush family haven't yet held the post of U.S. president. Jeb Bush, George Bush's brother, may be running for president this time. Therefore, the Republicans will try to get rid of Saddam ASAP."

Whilst it may be true that the Republicans would like to be rid of Saddam, it is also true that given the disaster of Iraq they would also like to be well rid of the Bush family too.

Jeb Bush has not a chance in hell of becoming the Presidential candidate for the Republcian party.

US Trapped In Iraq

In a cruel twist of fate, it seems that the US is as much a prisoner in Iraq as Saddam Hussein is.

That at least is the view of outgoing head of the UN Kofi Annan, who said that the US is effectively "trapped" in Iraq, with the prospect of staying in the country as problematic as pulling out.

Quote:

"The United States in a way is trapped in Iraq.

It cannot stay and it cannot leave. There are those who maintain that its presence is a problem and there are those who say that if it leaves precipitously, the situation will get worse."

Now remind me again, who was it said "Mission Accomplished!"?

Trial Verdict Unsound

Human Rights Watch has driven another nail into the credibility of the "coffin" of Saddam Hussein's trial. They have stated that the trial was "fundamentally unfair", and that the death sentence he received earlier was "indefensible".

The damning indictment comes in the form of a 97 page review of the trial. In which they state that the trial:

"was marred by so many procedural and substantive flaws that the verdict is unsound."

The report calls upon the Iraqi tribunal to overturn the verdict, and its death sentence on Saddam.

Unsurprisingly the Iraqi government has rejected the report.

The report notes that the prosecution undermined several guarantees necessary to a fair trial under international law, including; the right to an independent and impartial court, the presumption of innocence, the ability to prepare a defence and the right to cross-examine witnesses.

Nehal Bhuta, a lawyer with the group's International Justice Program, in a statement accompanying the report said:

"Unless the Iraqi government allows experienced international judges and lawyers to participate directly, it's unlikely the court can fairly conduct other trials."

The report accuses the Iraqi leaders, including Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, of prejudicing the outcome of the trial by declaring Saddam guilty before the trial.

Quote:

"While the trial of someone as notorious as Saddam Hussein will inevitably be accompanied by strong opinions and public discussion as to his guilt or otherwise, public authorities and in particular leading political figures are not relieved of their obligation to refrain from prejudicing the outcome of the trial.

In creating an environment in which judges feel intense pressure to be seen as dealing severely with the accused, such behavior undermines the guarantee of presumption of innocence at trial."

To replace one unjust system (as under Saddam) with another is hardly progress, nor should it warrant the exaltation "Mission Accomplished!".

Blair Admits Iraq a Disaster

Tony Blair admitted in an interview with David Frost, on Al-Jazeera's new English-language channel, that the invasion of Iraq was "a disaster".

No kidding!

Violence at Satanic Levels

General Michael Hayden, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, has said that violence in Iraq has reached almost satanic levels, and is fearful that the Iraqi Government is not capable of bringing it under control.

General Hayden was speaking during an appearance before the Senate's Armed Services Committee in Washington.

General Hayden also said that the situation will get much worse if US troops start leaving the country.

The US is caught between a rock and a hard place on this issue, without any proespect of a painless solution.

Who was it said "Mission Accomplished"?

US Denies Rift With UK

The White House has denied that there is a split between the administrations in London and Washington, as to the future policy on Iraq.

Tony Blair has called for Syria and Iran to help stabilise Iraq, this runs contra to the stated policy in Washington.

Blair also gave his views to the bipartisan US study group, reassessing Washington's policy in Iraq, via video link. He said that resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with broad regional support, would pressure Damascus and Tehran to co-operate.

The Iraq Study Group is led by former Secretary of State James Baker, who believes that Washington should talk to its enemies.

Dalai Lama Calls For Saddam To Be Spared

The Dalai Lama has asked for Saddam Hussein to be spared the death sentence. The Dalai Lama asked the Iraqi authorities to consider that the guilty should get a chance to reform.

In a statement, issued from his office in India, the Dalai Lama said:

"The death penalty, although fulfils a preventive function, is clearly a form of revenge.

However horrible the act committed, His Holiness believes that everyone has the potential to improve and correct themselves."

Adding:

"His Holiness hopes that in this case, as in all others, human life will be respected and spared."