The Kaiser made it to Holland, which refused to extradite him to the Allies for trial. He, however, was an autocratic ruler defeated in a conventional war, not a dictator who brutalized his own people for 30 years. The Ceauscescus are a closer model. There are many Iraqis, probably the majority, who would love to string Saddam up. And this is not a "innocent til proven guilty" situation, either. Here's an overview from Fox News about the possibilities.
'Mountains of Evidence' Will Delay Saddam Trial
Monday, December 15, 2003
Debate on how to force Saddam Hussein to face justice began almost from the moment the world learned one of its most notorious figures was in captivity. But U.S. officials warned that Iraqis, many of whom are eager to see the former dictator punished, may have to exercise patience.
"You have an entire country that's a crime scene," a U.S. official told Fox News.
The official, who is working with a special war crimes tribunal established in Iraq last week, said "mountains of evidence" culled from human rights organizations, U.S. intelligence and the Iraqi people would contribute to a lengthy information-gathering phase.
In addition to charges that Saddam committed genocide against the Kurds, brutally crushed an attempted Shiite uprising and ordered the systematic torture, rape and killings of political enemies, grievances from outside the country are expected to pile up.
President Bush on Monday said the legal community should decide whether charges against Saddam will include the 1990 invasion of Kuwait or the assassination plot against Bush's father.
Iran also is preparing to file a complaint against Saddam for "war crimes" committed when Iraqi forces invaded in 1980. More than 1 million Iranians were killed or wounded in the eight-year-long war.
The Bush administration has not released many details of the tribunal, which by all accounts is in the formative stage. The officials working with the tribunal told Fox News there was a "framework" in place, and "within that process, there are lots of decisions to be made."
When asked specific questions about the tribunal, the official only said that the U.S. was working with Iraqis on those issues. But, the official added, the end goal for the tribunal was a "fair, credible, transparent process."
The president on Monday stressed that the Iraqi people would decide the fate of the former dictator, saying that "justice needs to be delivered."
"We will work with the Iraqis to develop a way to try him that will stand [up to] international scrutiny," Bush said.
The president told reporters at a news conference that he had his own views about what to do with Saddam, but said it was up to Iraqis to decide.
"My personal views aren't important in this matter," Bush said.
"Iraqis need to be very much involved — they were the people who were brutalized by this man. ... We'll work with the Iraqis to develop a process," Bush said. "Of course we want it to be fair and of course we want the world to say, 'He got a fair trial.'"
The president added that the capture of Saddam was a "great moment" for Iraqis.
Bush said that, if given the chance to talk to Saddam, he would say: "Good riddance, the world is better off without you, Mr. Saddam Hussein. I find it very interesting that when the heat got in, you dug yourself a hole and crawled in it."
Bush stressed that in a public trial, "all the atrocities need to come out and justice needs to be delivered … and I'm confident it can be done in a fair way."
Meanwhile, the Iraqi people may seek the death penalty for Saddam, according to several members of the Iraqi Governing Council (search).
Saddam Denies WMD
A defiant Saddam Hussein (search) has shown no remorse and is denying his Iraqi regime had weapons of mass destruction, Fox News has learned.
U.S. officials said the questioning, which began after Saddam was captured Saturday, kicked into high gear Monday. Officials said they have moved beyond early lines of interrogation about the attacks against U.S.-led coalition forces and to the question of what types of weapons Saddam had at his disposal.
Saddam said his regime did not have dangerous weapons capable of killing scores of people, officials said. But sources said that Saddam's answers haven't been very convincing.
"He's been fairly defiant," one official said. "While he's talkative, he's provided nothing substantial. His comments are self-serving, lengthy rationalizations of his behavior, and he punctuates a lot of it with wise-ass and deflective remarks."
U.S. officials also told Fox News that Saddam was mounting "filibusters" when questions about weapons of mass destruction come up. Saddam was offering "long soliloquies" and lengthy explanations to justify himself and his regime.
Thus far, they said, Saddam has given up nothing on the weapons issue.
Additionally, he claimed to have no knowledge of the whereabouts of long-missing Navy pilot Michael Scott Speicher (search), and was denying any links to Al Qaeda (search). Speicher was shot down during the 1991 Persian Gulf War and is still missing.
One official said that in this early stage of questioning, Saddam's reactions weren't particularly surprising. He describes Saddam as seemingly "frustrated" with the position in which he finds himself.
U.S. officials, however, said that as Saddam settles into the idea that he's got no way out of his situation, they'll be able to determine what kind of approaches will work to soften him up.
Chatty but Uncooperative
Earlier Monday, officials told Fox News that Saddam had been talkative but was not yet cooperating with interrogators who hoped to learn about his ties to ongoing attacks on coalition forces. Saddam was also being questioned about alleged crimes against humanity and alleged pilfering of Iraq's wealth.
"He is talking, but he is portraying himself and his country as victims and is not cooperating," a U.S. official told Fox News.
After Saddam's capture, U.S. Army teams from the 1st Armored Division captured one high-ranking former regime figure, who in turn gave up a few others, said Brig. Gen. Mark Hertling of the Army's 1st Armored Division. All detainees were being interrogated and more raids were expected.
"We've already gleaned intelligence value from [Saddam's] capture," Hertling said. "We've already been able to capture a couple of key individuals here in Baghdad. We've completely confirmed one of the cells. It's putting the pieces together and it's connecting the dots. It has already helped us significantly in Baghdad."
Hertling said: "I'm sure he was giving some guidance to some key figures in this insurgency."
On Monday, car bombings at police stations around the Iraqi capital left eight policemen dead and at least 17 wounded, police officials said. One blast, in the northern Husainiyah district, killed the eight officers and wounded 10 others.
At the Ameriyah station in western Baghdad, a car bomb exploded, wounding seven officers. Iraqi police and U.S. Military police fired on a second explosives-packed vehicle, preventing it from ramming the police station, Hertling said. The vehicle's driver fled.
Maj. Gen. Raymond Odierno said the lack of communications equipment in Saddam's hideout indicated he was not commanding the entire resistance.
Saddam Could Get the Death Penalty
Saddam could be tried "in the next few weeks" and could be executed if convicted, one Iraqi Governing Council member said Monday.
The Dubai-based Arab TV station Al-Arabiya said Saddam was moved to Qatar after his capture but others officials denied that report. U.S. forces said he was in a secure location.
"I can confirm ... that he is still in Iraq and he will stay in Iraq and he will be tried in Iraq" by an Iraqi court in a live, televised hearing, Iraqi Governing Council member Mowaffaq Al-Roubaie told Fox News Monday morning. "And we will follow all the international standards, all the international legal and court standards in our tribunal."
Asked whether Saddam could get the death penalty, Al-Roubaie said if so, he would not be executed until after an interim Iraqi government takes power on June 30, 2004.
Council member Ahmad Chalabi (search) said Saddam would face a public trial "so that the Iraqi people will know his crimes."
One senior administration official told Fox News that the U.S. was leaning toward permitting the Iraqis to try Saddam, nothing that "even for someone like him, there's a process."
Fox News' Jim Angle, Bret Baier, Ian McCaleb, Teri Schultz and The Associated Press contributed to this report. |
