Saddam trial postponed again -- just who's in charge over there?

By Aussiegirl

So -- while witnesses testify about the brutal beatings, tortures, mass murders and sexual humiliations suffered at his command, Saddam is upset because he doesn't have a fresh change of undies (just what is it about these terrorists that makes them so exquisitely concerned with intimate apparel -- is it some sort of secret desire to peruse forbidden pages of a Victoria's Secret catalogue?), a shower and a timely nicotine fix.

And the Iraqi judge lets him get away with it. Do we not have American lawyers advising the Iraqis on the proper procedures in handling a criminal case? Bring him to court in handcuffs, shackles and leg irons if necessary -- and if he won't shut up, duct tape his mouth shut. Iraqis do not need to see their dictator seemingly still in charge and ranting and raving in a menacing manner from the witness box.

This is a highly symbolic trial. If the Iraqis do not succeed in controlling the situation, the Ramsey Clarkes of this world will succeed in their quest to humanize this monster and to make him seem sympathetic -- the Tookie Williamization of Saddam. Poor Saddam. There seems to be no murderer, rapist, brutal dictator or homicidal maniac the left cannot take to its heart.

The Globe and Mail: Hussein trial off till Dec. 21

At the end of Tuesday's session, an angry Mr. Hussein said he would boycott the next day's proceedings after complaining that he and his co-defendants had been mistreated.

Mr. Hussein's threat not to attend the Wednesday session came at the end of a daylong session in which five witnesses – two women and three men – related the events of a 1982 crackdown on Shiites. The most dramatic testimony came from a woman who spoke from behind a curtain with her voice disguised.

She told of beatings, torture and sexual humiliation at the hands of security agents when she was a teenager.

At the end of Tuesday's proceedings, the judges agreed, over defence objections, to meet again the following day. Mr. Hussein shouted: “I will not come to an unjust court! Go to hell!”

Throughout the trial, which began Oct. 19, Mr. Hussein has repeatedly confronted the court and tried to take control of the proceedings with dramatic rhetorical flourishes.