Bush Calls Saddam Verdict ‘Milestone,’ Thanks U.S. Servicemembers

American Forces Press Service ^ | Jim Garamone

[SandRat]

WASHINGTON, Nov. 5, 2006 -- Without the help of American servicemembers, today’s verdict against Saddam Hussein would not have been possible, the commander in chief said today in Waco, Texas.

President Bush called the trial “a milestone” in Iraq’s efforts to replace the rule of a tyrant with the rule of law. Today’s verdict, he said, represents a major achievement for Iraq’s young democracy and its constitutional government.

The Iraqi High Tribunal found Saddam guilty in his actions against the citizens of Dujail, Iraq, and sentenced him to death by hanging.

In the 1982 incident, Saddam ordered the military, Baath Party loyalists and interior department police to arrest, detain and torture men, women and children in the town.

Although the Dujail case was the first against the former dictator to go to trial, he is also charged with genocide against the Kurds in the northern part of Iraq in the 1980s.

Bush emphasized the fairness of the trial and the irony that Saddam received protections that he denied the Iraqi people under his rule. “During the Saddam Hussein trial, the court received evidence from 130 witnesses,” Bush said. “The man who once struck fear into the hearts of Iraqis had to listen while free Iraqis recounted the acts of torture and murder that he ordered against their families and against them.”

“Today,” the president said, “the victims of this regime have received a measure of the justice that many thought would never come.”

The former dictator will have an automatic right to appeal his sentence. “He will continue to receive the legal rights and due process that he denied to the Iraqi people,” the president said. “Iraq has a lot of work ahead as it builds its society that delivers equal justice and protects all its citizens. Yet history will record today’s judgment as an important achievement on the path to a free and just and unified society.”

The United States will continue to stand with Iraq’s unity government, Bush said. He praised the courage and determination of the Iraqi security forces.

The president thanked the men and women of the U.S. military for their sacrifices to free Iraq and defend America. “Without their courage and skill, today’s verdict would not have happened,” he said. “On behalf of the American people, I thank every American who wears the uniform. I thank their families and I thank them for their service and their sacrifice.”

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Related Articles:
Saddam Guilty; Iraqi Court Sentences Former Leader to Death

Related Sites:
White House Web Site

[SandRat]

FR WAR NEWS!

WAR News You'll Hear Nowhere Else!

All the News the MSM refuses to use!

[tennmountainman]

He certainly deserves death. How soon do you think this sentence will be carried out? With the speed he murdered his victims, or with endless appeals>

I predict the latter.

If the U.S. wanted him dead, he would already be dead.

[SolidWood]

He won't see 2007. The appeals defiantely won't go forever.
They will try to appeal, but most certainly will fail the first time, wich means that he will be hanged within the following 30 days. It's not so much about whether the USA wants him dead or not, it's more about the Iraqis. If they wouldn't hang him, they wouldn't have sentenced him to death today. It's too risky in regards of public opinion in Iraq, to let him live. He WILL hang!

[johnny7]

The DBM has deemed the verdict inconsequential... I haven't even seen a full article on it. They are only talking about its insignificance as a campaign issue.

[SandRat]

IMHO it will take at least 3 years of inane legal appeals led by Ramsey Clark, 2 jail break/rescue attempts, at least two visits from the Rev. Jessie Jackson and Cindy Sheehan, along with endless speechifying by the pompas effete elite psuedo-intelligensia of academia, politics, Thespian Arts, and the Euro-Weenies.

[tennmountainman]

That was kind of my point. All these people celebrating the death sentence.
But it will be a while if ever, when the sentence is carried out.

I predict it will take about as long to carry this sentence out as it will to build the border fence.

PR is about all it is.

[Albertafriend]

This is a great statement from a true leader. Imagine he said all of that and nary a single word to slur the Dem position. As an historical statement, it was exactly the right thing to do and say and shows great character.