Excerpts from the exchanges in court Wednesday between Saddam Hussein and chief judge Raouf Abdel-Rahman, as translated from Arabic by The Associated Press.
Saddam (reading from a written speech): What pains me most is what I heard recently about something that aims to harm our people. My conscience tells me that the great people of Iraq have nothing to do with these strange and horrid acts, the bombing of the shrine of Imam Ali al-Hadi and Hassan al-Askari ... which led to the burning of mosques in Baghdad, which are the houses of God, and the burning of other mosques in other cities of Iraq ...
Abdel-Rahman: Listen, what does this speech have to do with our case? We asked you to give your testimony on the subject of Dujail and your role as the head of state of the time.
Saddam: I am the head of state.
Abdel-Rahman: You used to be the head of state. Now you are a defendant in a court. ... You stand before a court, not on a political platform.
Saddam: I stand before the Iraqi people.
Abdel-Rahman: As a judge, I don't deal with you on political issues. I'm asking you legally. You gave testimony before the investigating judges about your role in the Dujail issue. You have to explain that case.
Saddam (resumes reading): The bloodshed that they (the Americans) have caused to the Iraqi people only made them more intent and strong to evict the foreigners from their land and liberate their country. ... Let the people resist the invaders and their supporters rather than kill each other. ... Oh Iraqis, men and women, ... those who blew up the shrine are shameful criminals _
Abdel-Rahman (shouting): You have to address the subject of this case. Give your testimony.
Saddam (reading): Oh Iraqis, in your resistance to the invasion by the Americans and Zionists and their allies, you were great. You were great in my eyes and you remain so.
Abdel-Rahman: Listen, you're accused in a criminal case. Defend yourself. The time for this is over. ... No more political speeches. We are a criminal court, a judicial court, we don't have anything to do with political issues or anything like this. Testify.
Saddam: Political issues are what brought you and me here. (Continues reading. Sound cuts in and out as Abdel-Rahman shuts off his microphone) ... But now, the criminals who came on the excuse of weapons of mass destruction, with their tanks to rule the Iraqi people under the slogan of democracy _
Abdel-Rahman (interrupting): You are before a court. This is your own personal issue between you and the Americans ... You are before an Iraqi court about an Iraqi issue, concerning the killing of innocent people. Answer that charge. Your conflict with the Americans has no bearing on this case.
(Prosecutor tries to address Saddam, sparking a new shouting match that other defense lawyers join. Abdel-Rahman's banging gavel silences them.)
Saddam: This is a court?
Abdel-Rahman (shouting): Yes, a court! ... Respect yourself.
Saddam: You respect yourself.
Abdel-Rahman: I respect myself. I am a judge _
Saddam: Whoever shows respect gets respect.
Abdel-Rahman: What is this style of yours? You are a defendant in a major criminal case, concerning the killing of innocents. You have to respond to this charge.
Saddam: What about those who are dying in Baghdad? Are they not innocents? Are they not Iraqis? ... I am addressing the Iraqi people. (Resumes reading but sound goes out.)
Abdel-Rahman: The court has decided to turn this into a secret and closed session.
Saddam Hussein argues with Chief Judge Raouf Rashid Abdel-Rahman, not pictured, during his trial in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, March 15, 2006. Saddam and seven co-defendants are on trial for torture, illegal arrests and the killing of nearly 150 people from Dujail after a 1982 assassination attempt on Saddam in the town. (AP Photo/Jacob Silberberg, Pool)
But how many divisions does he have?
/schadenfreude
Milosivic Saddam!
Do they have an insanity defense in Iraq? Sure sounds like ol' Saddam is trying for it.
"Saddam Insists He's Still Iraqi President"
Kind of reminds me of Bill Clinton who can't seem to exit the national stage either.
Once they get on with it and hang this megalomaniac (yes, he is like Bill Clinton in many ways), the die hard Baathists who are participating in the current terrorism (no, I won't call it an "insurgency") will finally realize he's never coming back and incidents will drop off more than they already have.
Kinda reminds me of Al Gore!
I suggest therefore that he should be found 'not guilty' and hanged on general principles.
Would the technical term for this crime be - Saddamy?
I hope they have a televised feed of this bastard when he drops through the trap door on the hanging platform.
And Al Gore thinks he won the 2000 election. The only difference between the two is Saddam has a firmer grip on reality.
I Bahgdad Bob his new legal council?
Anyone else think of Goering when looking at Saddam.
Goering used to drink heavily was heavily reliant on pep pills and was generally regarded as a buffoon, but was always during the early rise to Power of the Nazis he was a shrewd operator. But too much good living was the ruin of him.
Under the Prison regime he lost that bloated look, and regained a lot of his sharpness and gifts for political oratory.
I have noticed in the pics that Saddam has also lost that bloated look and looks and acts a lot sharper.