Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 6 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
OpEdNews Op Eds   

Saddam's Conviction: One War Criminal Down, Three to Go (Bush, Cheney and Blair)

By       (Page 1 of 1 pages)   2 comments
Message Walter Uhler
Become a Fan
  (18 fans)
Regardless of whether the "fix" was in - both in its predetermined outcome or its timing (just two days before Americans go to the polls) -- justice prevailed today in, of all places, Iraq, when a court convicted Saddam Hussein of crimes against humanity for the revenge killings of 148 people in the Shiite city of Dujail in 1982.

As reported by Hamza Hendawi of the Associated Press, "The trial brought Saddam and his co-defendants before their accusers in what was one of the most highly publicized and heavily reported trials of its kind since the Nuremberg tribunals for members of Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime and its slaughter of 6 million Jews in the World War II Holocaust."

Yet, few Americas probably know that Article 6 of the Nuremberg Tribunal's Charter listed "Crimes against Peace; namely, planning, preparation, initiation or waging war of aggression" as its first and foremost crime. Count Two indicted the Nazis for actual crimes against peace. Count Three indicted them for "War Crimes," including the ill treatment of civilians and the mistreatment of prisoners of war (such as have occurred at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo in our recent past). "Crimes Against Humanity" was relegated to Count Four.

Thus, notwithstanding the justice meted out to Saddam today, Americans have at least two reasons to reflect while celebrating the outcome: (1) Saddam now has been convicted for crimes that occurred in 1982, just a year before Donald Rumsfeld, acting as an envoy for President Reagan, met and shook hands with him on December 20, 1983. Thus, Americans might ponder how it was that the Reagan administration found it suitable to offer military assistance to such an "evil" criminal.

(2) Much available evidence suggests that the Bush administration planned and prepared the initiation and waging of a war of aggression - the first and foremost crime spelled out in Article 6 of the Nuremberg Charter - while "fixing" the intelligence about Saddam's weapons of mass destruction and ties to al Qaeda's terrorists, in order to deceive both the American people and the U.S. Congress into supporting its illegal, immoral war.

Thus, if justice can be done in war-torn Iraq, it certainly must be done in the great United States of America (and perhaps in lapdog Tony Blair's Great Britain as well). But justice certainly won't be done, so long as Republicans remain in control of Congress.
Rate It | View Ratings

Walter Uhler Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Walter C. Uhler is an independent scholar and freelance writer whose work has been published in numerous publications, including The Nation, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the Journal of Military History, the Moscow Times and the San (more...)
 
Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

The Grand Jury Report: Part two of "What did Joe Paterno know and when did he know it?"

Three False Assertions by the Grand Jury turned the Press and Public against Joe Paterno and Penn State

New, Previously Suppressed Grand Jury Testimony and Joe Paterno: Part four of "What did Joe Paterno know and when...

What did Joe Paterno know and when did he know it? Part One

Incompetent Journalists at the Philadelphia Inquirer Slandered Joe Paterno

Hitting Penn State's Board of Trustees Where it Hurts

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend