Some comments from Australia:-
US should be in the dock alongside its old pal Saddam
Date: July 3 2004
Many of the charges to be faced by the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein before a tribunal set up by the new interim government could also be levelled at his once staunchest ally: the United States.
The US military supplied Saddam with no less than 14 different strains of the deadly anthrax virus in 1988 to help hasten the end of the Iran-Iraq war. The US was also largely responsible for supplying Saddam with chemical weapons to suppress the Kurdish uprising in Halabja. In a UN Security Council resolution condemning the attack, the US was the only member to vote against the resolution.
And when Saddam had informed the then US ambassador to Iraq, April Gillespie, of his plans to invade Kuwait, she raised no objections. Her equivocation was interpreted by Saddam as a green light from the US to go ahead.
Saddam's trial has already been dubbed the trial of the century. But because he did not act without the implicit support of the US, they should both be put on trial for committing these crimes against humanity.
The Reverend Dr Vincent Zankin, Rivett (ACT), July 2.
I see that Saddam Hussein calls George Bush the real criminal. Looks like the chardonnay socialists have found a new ally.
Stephen Hunt, West Ryde, July 2.
A huge picture of an unkempt Saddam Hussein is not a good idea first thing in the morning ("A tyrant in the dock", Herald, July 2). Especially if you're trying to hold down breakfast.
I know his coming trial is a big news event but maybe you should only show him after his Queer Eye makeover. Then he might be slightly more presentable to those of us who start work early.
David Skidmore, Dulwich Hill, July 2.
We can only hope that the trial of Saddam Hussein will muzzle the enemies of the freedom of the Iraqi people.
George Fishman, Vaucluse, July 2.
It is right that the tyrant Saddam Hussein has been brought to trial. It would also be right if a greater share of the profits from Iraq's natural resource, oil, were to be delivered to the restoration of the health, housing and welfare of its oppressed citizens.
Pamela Chippindall, Point Piper, July 2.
Anyone who has ever confused a legal system with a justice system need only listen to Saddam Hussein's lawyers. I think they may be getting paid by the hour.
Clint Oliver, Penshurst, July 2.
No, David Atkinson (Letters, July 2), the "left" would not prefer the democracy in Iraq to fail. What is being disputed is the legitimacy of a forcibly imposed democracy that is the product of an illegal war based on lies that has left a country in ruins.
I argue that it is the dangerously primitive "right" who, by sanctimoniously proclaiming that good has defeated evil and hanging off the coat-tails of the US, are the true "miserable lot".
Simon Tedeschi, Sydney, July 2.
David Atkinson, I fully support the chance of democratic freedom in Iraq. My concern and negativity stem from being lied to so frequently over the last few years that I no longer trust the overseers of "democracy".
The US leadership understands capitalism - they do not understand democracy. That is why they ignore world opinion whenever it suits them.
Michael Lloyd, Sapphire Beach, July 2.
The US Supreme Court has ruled that the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay have a right of access to the US courts. The British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has declared that the procedure for the proposed trials of the prisoners is unnacceptable. Are you listening, John Howard?
Frederick Forster, West Ryde, July 2. |
