Posted on 08/21/2006 1:22:30 PM PDT by South40
He is accused of destroying entire villages and killing tens of thousands of men, women and children in the cruelest way, by poison gas and nerve agents, but it was the claim that Kurdish women were raped under his leadership that made former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein fly into an indignant rage on the first day of his new trial for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity Monday morning.
"I can never accept the claim that an Iraqi woman was raped while Saddam is president," the ousted leader shouted, as he slammed the podium before him and pointed defiantly at prosecutors who read the charges. "How could I walk with my head up?"
In his protestations Saddam not only referred to himself in the third person but pointedly referred to ethnic Kurds as "Iraqi." He is accused of committing genocide on the non-Arab minority people in the north of Iraq. To prove the charge, prosecutors must demonstrate that the Kurds were targeted specifically for their ethnicity.
"An Iraqi woman raped while Saddam is the leader?" Saddam repeatedly shouted.
Saddam stands trial before the Iraqi High Tribunal in the fortified Green Zone of Baghdad. He and his six co-defendants, including his cousin known as "Chemical Ali, Ali Hassan al-Majid, face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for their role in the 1987-88 anti-Kurdish campaign known under the code name of of "Anfal" ("Spoils of War"). The eight-stage campaign was directed against Kurds near the Iraq-Iran border and had 182,000 victims, according to prosecutors. Saddam and al Majid are the only two accused of genocide.
The five other defendants in the trial are former Defense Minister Sultan Hashim Ahmad, former intelligence chief Saber Abdul Aziz al-Douri, former Republican Guard Commander Hussein al-Tirkiti, former Nineveh Provincial Governor Taher Tafwiq al-Ani and former top military commander Farhan Mutlaq al-Jubouri.
Saddam refused to state his name--"You know who I am"--before the court and did not enter a plea, dismissing the entire tribunal as a "court of occupation." Chief Judge Abdullah al-Amiri entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf.
At his first trial which began Oct. 19, 2005, Saddam and seven others were accused of killing 148 Shi'ites in the village of Dujail after a foiled assassination attempt in 1982. A verdict in that trial is expected Oct. 16 of this year. Saddam faces the death penalty in both trials.
He's losing it. It's not like rapes don't occur in every country, including our own.
No doubt he mistakenly believes the women 'gave' themselves to his excellency. Blech.
Oh for Pete's sake... Just put a bullet through his skull and be done with it. Why continue to allow this monster to further decimate what's left of this court's credibility?
Lately this judge hasn't put up with a lot. Having said that sure wish that whomever discovered him, had then reported finding his body.
Wasnt it Saddams son who was accused of Rape?
dang. read the headline and thought he really DID explode. guts and feathers all over. lol
It is interesting, though, that charges of mass murder didn't incite him but the charges of rape did.
He's got his reputation, you know.
Yuck!
I wish the Iraqis would just wrap this trial up, hang him by the neck until he's dead, and move on to more important matters.
Yes, Uday was a monster in that regard.
Yeah apparently by your two boys Saddam. Where did they learn that?
They learned abuse of power from dear ol' dad.
re: 4
Agreed!!!
End this mess now.
It's so easy to forget what trailer trash, low lifing scum, 'The Rapist-in-Chief' was. Thanks for posting that picture.
Not to worry...that little problem you are so worried about will be resolved at the same time this one is. It's tough for a dead man with a borken neck to walk with his head up in any case.
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