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To: Lucretius who wrote (290264)	7/2/2004 2:05:56 PM
From: Pogeu Mahone	Respond to of 436258

does saddam post here?<VBG> Saddam gives judge the finger Ross Benson Baghdad 03jul04 SADDAM Hussein jabbed his right index finger towards the courtroom roof over and over again, then slowly brought it down and aimed it like a pistol. It means: "You listen to me – and beware." He was pointing at the Iraqi judge. The toppled dictator, whose trigger finger kept Iraq in terrified subjection for three decades, was in court facing charges of multiple murder. As his wardens pushed him into a black leather-covered seat, he looked confused. But only for a moment. By the time the judge, whose name is being withheld for security reasons, opened the proceedings, Saddam's composure had returned. "Are you Saddam Hussein, the former president of Iraq?" the judge asked. Saddam's eyes fixed on his questioner. Then, in a voice hoarse but firm, he replied: "I am the president of Iraq." When the young judge repeated his question, 67-year-old Saddam answered imperiously: "I am the current president of Iraq." It was the beginning of a sinister performance that continued for 25 minutes and gave a chilling insight into the mind of a despot whose hands are steeped in the blood of millions. There were 16 officials of the new Iraqi interim government in the room. Each had fallen foul of the man sitting before them. Saddam ignored them. Instead, he pointed his pistol finger at the judge and said: "I cannot be stripped of my presidency under this occupation." It had been decided to allow him to wear his own clothes and he was dressed in a grey jacket suit, brown trousers, well-polished black shoes and a freshly laundered white shirt. The grey-flecked beard he grew when he was hiding in the "spider hole" the US soldiers dragged him out of in December was neat, but he looked thin and there were heavy bags under his eyes. What was undiminished was his steely self-possession. When he was in power, he claimed he had the ability to look into men's minds and see who was plotting against him. As a consequence, people were terrified to meet his unblinking gaze. Yesterday, he kept it fixed on the judge as he was asked if he was born in 1937 (he nodded) and whether he had been head of the Iraqi armed forces (he said yes). The gaze stayed cold and hard as the judge read out the seven charges he will initially face. Others will follow in the months to come before his case comes to trial before a tribunal of judges. But Saddam Hussein was not arguing for his life. He was trying to intimidate the court. "This is all a theatre," he said with a half-smile. "The real criminal is Bush and it's for his campaign." He pointed his pistol finger again. Throughout the proceedings, Saddam continued to interrupt and point at the judge. There were moments when he appeared to be beseeching the bench and they are the edited clips broadcast on Iraqi TV. But if he sometimes said, "Please," the word carried no trace of humility. He even had the audacity to make a joke. Asked if he could afford lawyers for his defence, he said: "Everyone says I have millions of dollars hidden in Geneva – why shouldn't I be able to afford lawyers?" When the judge asked him about the invasion of Kuwait, however, the court saw a flash of the menace that lurks below that seemingly calm exterior. "That was our right – in Kuwait. Kuwait is part of Iraq. I was protecting the Iraqi people from the Kuwaiti dogs," he snarled. "They were trying to raise the price of oil and turn Iraqi women into 10-dinar (less than a cent) prostitutes." "Do not use that language," the judge ordered. Saddam shut up. But he kept his gaze fastened on the bench. Total defeat, the loss of the power of life and death over the oil-rich country he oppressed for many years and the months of interrogation by the CIA and FBI has brought him before a court that is determined to exact retribution for his crimes. So far his captors do not appear to have broken through his psychological defences. In his own mind, at least, he seems to believe that he still is the president of Iraq, above the law and answerable only to himself. At the end of proceedings, Saddam was asked if he would sign documents acknowledging his rights as a defendant. He refused. Then, as his two guards approached him to lead him away, he told them: "Take it easy – I'm an old man." privacy © Herald and Weekly Times