December 14, 2003
Saddam Hussein was captured by US forces; according to Fox News, with $750,000 in US cash, hiding in a hole like the rat that he is: U.S. forces have captured Saddam Hussein in a late night raid near his hometown...
Want a peek at how leftist Americans think about Saddam's capture? Take a look at a couple of these sites: Eschaton - Check out the comments on this post by Atrios. Guess Atrios hadn't seen this article before posting. Metafilter...
You would think that the capture of a known enemy of the United States would be good news for Americans of all mainstream political stripes, but apparently that does not include the Dean campaign supporters, if his weblog is any...
It's a sad day for American politics when al-Jazeera sounds more intelligent, coherent, and fair than the campaign supporters of a major American presidential candidate. The Arab news agency presents four views on the meaning of Saddam's capture: Leading analysts...
What better way, and what more American way, can you commemorate V-S day (Victory over Saddam)? I love the picture -- looks like Saddam's been without a Ba'ath for a while now ... [yes, I stole the joke from someone...
The Truth Laid Bear asks a question for those who continually argued that the war in Iraq was illegitimate and a violation of international law: Now that he has been found to be alive, I'd ask this to those who...
Guess who's crying in their coffee today? Disbelief and gloom seized many Palestinians Sunday at news of Saddam Hussein's capture ... "It's a black day in history," said Sadiq Husam, 33, a taxi driver in Ramallah, West Bank seat of...
Today's capture reminded me of a scene from Tolkien, although it's not the Lord of the Rings, it's from The Silmarillion. I suppose it may be a bit silly to use this as a reference to Saddam Hussein, but it...
Iraqi and Arab supporters of Saddam Hussein are dismayed to find out that Saddam surrendered like the rat that they now know he is: But for some, his capture was a blow to hopes for Saddam's triumphant return, and his...
Time Magazine has published an exclusive story on its web site on the capture and initial interrogation of Saddam Hussein: After his capture, Saddam was taken to a holding cell at the Baghdad Airport. He didn’t answer any of the...
Human Rights Watch, based in New York, is now putting itself in the position of being an agent of one of the worst human-rights violators in the last 30 years: Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the Council must not mount...
The provocative blog DEBKAFile has an interesting assessment of Saddam's status prior to his capture by American forces: According to DEBKAfile analysts, these seven anomalies point to one conclusion: Saddam Hussein was not in hiding; he was a prisoner. After...
I've pasted the transcript of President Bush's speech on the capture of Saddam Hussein. Here's a link to the White House site, where there are links to the video. Happy V-S Day, and good night....
Continue reading "I Suppose I'll Let Him Have the Last Word" »
December 15, 2003
Jim Hoagland has a good column in today's Washington Post about Saddam Hussein, including some of his own experiences with the former tyrant as interesting background to recent events. Hoagland interviewed him in 1975, prior to him grabbing all power...
Saddam Hussein's capture appears to be working out even better than anticipated. The man who surrendered to US forces by declaring, "I want to negotiate!" may be responsible for the following: Since Saddam's capture on Saturday, U.S. Army teams from...
As I posted earlier, Time Magazine has published an account of the preliminary interrogation of Saddam "Peace! Peace!" Hussein. However, as we often see in the blogosphere, one of our peers has gotten the rest of the story. Meryl Yourish...
I caught a little bit of the James Lileks interview on the Hugh Hewitt show this afternoon, and he revealed compelling evidence for French involvement in Saddam's months on the lam. I'll quote this as accurately as possible: "Obviously the...
Hugh Hewitt announced today that the guys over at Fraters Libertas will be hosting a national office pool for the date of Saddam Hussein's actual execution. While I don't normally support the death penalty for religious reasons, this may be...
You would think that a reporter on the Baghdad beat would understand the Geneva Convention and the rules of war, especially if he's arrogating to himself the position of expert in one of the nation's most prestigious broadsheets, but it appears that knowledge isn't a necessary prerequisite for reporters at the Gray Lady.
December 16, 2003
More nonsense from the See, this time in regards to the capture and treatment of Saddam Hussein: [Cardinal Renato] Martino said he felt "compassion" for Saddam, even if he was a dictator, after seeing the video of the ousted leader...
December 17, 2003
Documents found on Saddam Hussein, and further intelligence gathered from them, links Saddam to at least fourteen clandestine terrorist cells within Iraq, senior military officials are reporting today: "I think this network that sits over the cells was clearly responsible...
December 19, 2003
Despite the blatherings of our local broadsheet, the Iraq war and the capture of Saddam Hussein paid off in a spectacular way today: Libya has tried to develop weapons of mass destruction and long-range missiles in the past, but has...
December 20, 2003
Looks like Saddam Hussein's found himself an American mouthpiece: Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark said Friday that he would be willing to provide legal counsel to Saddam Hussein if the ousted Iraqi leader requested Clark's assistance. "I would seek...
Media recognition of the stunning diplomatic victory of Bush and Blair -- and even Gadhafi -- in Libya's trilateral disarmament agreement yesterday comes slow. Most of the major newspapers covered it as a news story, although both local Twin Cities...
December 23, 2003
US forces continued apprehending Iraqi insurgents by the dozens after Saddam Hussein's capture today, including several leadership figures: U.S. soldiers arrested dozens of rebel suspects Tuesday, including several associates of a former aide to Saddam Hussein who is believed to...
December 26, 2003
The Washington Post explains in more detail why the capture of Saddam Hussein has started to cripple the insurgency, and how American strategy had already impacted the insurgency even before that: Senior U.S. officers said they were surprised to discover...
December 29, 2003
A report from two Arab newspapers states that Saddam Hussein has acknowledged siphoning billions of dollars to a network of personal bank accounts and is telling American interrogators the names of his collaborators: Saddam Hussein has acknowledged depositing billions of...
February 8, 2004
The US believes it has discovered the location of at least some of Saddam Hussein's cash -- but so far, neither the US nor the Iraqi Governing Council can get their hands on it: The United States believes it has...
March 26, 2004
The BBC program Panorama asserts that the Americans captured Saddam by first capturing a loyal bodyguard, getting him to crack under interrogation and having him lead the Americans right to Saddam's spider hole: Saddam Hussein was finally betrayed by a...
March 27, 2004
The BBC reports that Saddam's hired a mouthpiece. Anyone want to guess where he found one? A French lawyer who made his reputation defending some of the world's most notorious figures says he will take on Saddam Hussein as his...
July 1, 2004
Saddam Hussein made his first appearance in court yesterday, jauntily in some reports while coming across confused in others, to face charges of genocide and other assorted war crimes. The former dictator has lost weight and cleaned up since his...
July 25, 2004
The London Guardian reports on the captivity of Saddam Hussein in tomorrow's edition, a "dejected" and dispirited prisoner of the US military that holds him for the new Iraqi government. Michael Howard notes Saddam's new routine in his more modest...
September 6, 2004
Reuters reported yesterday, to almost no fanfare, that the Iraqi judiciary announced that Saddam Hussein will stand trial within "weeks", after the Iraqi government urged them to expedite the process: Iraq's toppled leader Saddam Hussein and his top aides will...
December 21, 2004
Saddam Hussein will get legal representation from around the world in his attempt to beat the rap on hundreds of thousands of murder charges, not to mention rape, torture, and war crimes. Arthur Chrenkoff takes a good look at the...
December 29, 2004
Last week, Arthur Chrenkoff took a look at Saddam Hussein's legal team, a collection of ambulance chasers from around the globe who regualarly work to shield enemies of Western civilization. One attorney formerly represented Nazi stooge Klaus Barbie and bragged...
July 7, 2005
The AP reports this morning, between updates on the London terrorist attack by al-Qaeda, that Saddam Hussein's Iraqi lawyer has quit his defense team. Ziad al-Khasawneh complained that the American contingent of Saddam's legal team tried to tone down Khasawneh's...
August 21, 2005
Saddam Hussein continues to attempts to cast himself as an Arab martyr despite evidence that he may have killed more Arabs than any one figure in history. In a letter to the dwindling faithful, Saddam now offers himself as a...
October 19, 2005
The first Arab leader ever to face a tribunal of the people he once led -- or, more accurately, oppressed -- began this morning with Saddam Hussein querulously demanding to make a statement and a reading from the Qu'ran. He...
November 28, 2005
The trial of Saddam Hussein continued this morning, as most of his trials have gone thus far -- with an opening tirade from the deposed genocidal tyrant to get the trial off to a start. Saddam complained about not having...
December 5, 2005
The trial of Saddam Hussein picked up where it left off, with yet another disruption from the defense team and Saddam himself, a development from which observers could practically set their watches. In this case, the entire defense team walked...
December 6, 2005
The trial of Saddam Hussein resumed yesterday after numerous disruptions from the defense threatened to derail the proceedings. The first of the witnesses offered their testimony after a 90-minute pout by Saddam and his defense toadies, now apparently led by...
December 7, 2005
Apparently not satisfied with the results of his constant interruptions and disrepectful outbursts in court, Saddam Hussein has decided to escalate his manipulation of his trial and the media coverage by refusing to attend. The trial found itself at a...
December 21, 2005
Saddam Hussein returned to his trial, showing a more subdued and respectful tone since getting banished for his disruptive behavior two weeks ago. A bit more nattily attired, the former dictator only interrupted to make one request to pray: A...
December 22, 2005
The judges in charge of the trial of Saddam Hussein denied today that his American guards had ever beaten their most notorious prisoner, despite Saddam's numerous protestations. In what has to be a crushing blow to the New York Times,...
December 24, 2005
For those who keep insisting that Saddam had no WMD and no way of producing them, The Hague has some embarrassing news. It convicted Saddam's supplier, Dutch businessman Frans van Anraat, to 15 years for selling Saddam the chemicals used...
February 14, 2006
Saddam Hussein attempted to disrupt his trial yet again, in another of his tiresome and pathetic antics in today's session. This time he interrupted the court to announce that he has started a hunger strike to protest the injustice of...
February 27, 2006
The AP notes that Saddam Hussein has ended his hunger strike, and in fact only participated in it for eleven days. The reason he started eating again? He discovered that starvation is bad for his health. No, I'm not kidding:...
February 28, 2006
Prosecutors in the trial of Saddam Hussein managed to move their case along in today's session, now that new court management has dealt with the disruptive tactics by the defense. Not that this shocks anyone, but the prosecution proved that...
March 8, 2006
The Wall Street Journal discusses the historical precedent to the 1982 Dujail massacre that Saddam ordered after an assassination attempt on his life failed nearby. The unsigned essay discusses the more successful assassination of Reinhard "Hangman" Heydrich, the architect of...
March 15, 2006
Saddam Hussein took the stand in his own defense today, calling the trial a "comedy" while admitting most of the allegations surrounding the destruction of Dujail and the deaths of scores of its residents: Saddam Hussein formally took the stand...
March 20, 2006
The Scotsman reports on a key piece of evidence that ties Saddam Hussein directly to the disgusting genocide of Kurds in Halabja almost twenty years ago. Memos from his personal secretary to military leaders make clear that Saddam wanted to...
March 23, 2006
The strategy adopted by Saddam Hussein for his trial on crimes against humanity that stem from his decades-long tyranny over Iraq has always been clear -- he planned on diverting attention from the crimes and the evidence and focus the...
April 6, 2006
Today marks my return to the pages of the Daily Standard with a column reviewing the recent Media Research Center's analysis of broadcast network coverage of the Saddam Hussein trial. Saddam has had better luck with the Goering Gambit than...
May 15, 2006
The trial of Saddam Hussein resumes today, but before the proceedings started the court charged Saddam with even more crimes stemming from his efforts against the Iraqi Shi'a in Dujail. Saddam refused to enter a plea on charges that he...
May 22, 2006
The trial of Saddam Hussein resumed this morning, with fireworks launched from the start. The presiding judge had a defense attorney bodily thrown out of the courtroom after readmitting her moments before, and Saddam earned himself a sharp rebuke after...
May 24, 2006
The defense continued today at the trial of Saddam Hussein, but not without a stern warning from the chief judge about courtroom dramatics. That did not keep Saddam from once again challenging the court's authority, although more briefly this time...
May 30, 2006
The trial of Saddam Hussein resumed last night, and Saddam and his co-defendants continued presenting their defense witnesses. The new strategy for the defense is to transform the seizure and destruction of farms and orchards in Dujail not as an...
June 6, 2006
The presiding judge in the trial of Saddam Hussein castigated the defense attorneys for their repeated motions for dismissal as well as their inability to produce witnesses as promised. He angrily suspended the trial for a week to give the...
June 19, 2006
The trial of Saddam Hussein has concluded its evidentiary phase and now has proceeded to final arguments. To no one's great surprise, the prosecutors demanded the death penalty for Saddam and his co-defendants, while the defendants tried to disrupt the...
June 21, 2006
Iraqi authorities found one of the lawyers representing Saddam Hussein and his half-brother Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti murdered earlier today. Gunmen dressed in police uniforms abducted Khamis al-Obeidi from his home and shot him to death just prior to the launch...
Iraqi authorities found one of the lawyers representing Saddam Hussein and his half-brother Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti murdered earlier today. Gunmen dressed in police uniforms abducted Khamis al-Obeidi from his home and shot him to death just prior to the launch...
June 23, 2006
After proclaiming a hunger strike in honor of his slain defense attorney and in protest of a lack of sufficient security for the defense team, Saddam Hussein ended his fast -- fast: Saddam Hussein ended a brief hunger strike after...
June 25, 2006
Saddam Hussein has had a difficult time adjusting to life out of power and in the hands of the people he brutalized for four decades. That kind of life change can cause cognitive difficulties for someone in that position; the...
July 10, 2006
Closing arguments began today in the trial of Saddam Hussein and six other regime officials, where the defendants face 148 counts of murder and other assorted crimes for the Dujail wipeout. Only one defendant and attorney attended the session, as...