Of course, there is another way to look at the capture of Saddam, according to LNS foreign correspondent, Dunston Woods...The US military may have just done the exact opposite of what the Bush cabal wanted...They captured Saddam alive...If Saddam were still on the loose, he could be blamed for the guerrilla war in Iraq; alternately, if Saddam had been killed, his head could be held up as a trophy but his lips could not speak any embarrassing truths about the Bush family, Rumsfeld and the others...It is an intriuging perspective...Poignantly, Wesley Clark (D-NATO) was on his way to the Hague, this morning, to testify in the World Court trial of Milosevic, and his statement, calling for a "transparent trial" of Saddam, is compelling and quite possibly LOADED with insider knowledge...Poppy was able to deep-six Manuel Noriega, I doubt Saddam will be so easily removed from the world stage...
Associated Press: U.S. presidential candidate Wesley Clark called Sunday for a transparent trial for captured Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein that ensured him full legal rights under international law...The case "needs to be as public as possible and the evidence needs to be aired and charges brought," he said.
Of course, "international law" is something that the _resident does not respect or even understand. Consider this extraordinary statement quoted by the WASHPs in their story on the Iraq contracts outrage: Bush said even a decision by countries such as France and Germany to forgive Iraqi debt would not enable them to compete for the contracts in Iraq. And he was derisive when asked about German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's remark that "international law must apply here," saying: "International law? I better call my lawyer; he didn't bring that up to me."
What a disgrace!
Meanwhile, last week, Time and SeeNotNews ran an insipid Clark "profile" from the jaded Joe Klein, a propapunditgandist, not a participant in the Information Rebellion, here is what could be salvaged from the piece: "Could I ask the veterans in the audience to stand, please?" Wesley Clark asked last week at a town meeting in Exeter, N.H. As the applause swelled, Clark walked over to the American flag at the rear of the stage. He took the flag in hand and unfurled it, almost wrapping himself in it. "That's our flag," he said lovingly. "We saluted that flag. We served under it. We fought for it. We watched brave men and women buried under it." He was shouting now: "And no Tom DeLay, John Ashcroft and George W. Bush is going to take it away from us!"
Support Our Troops, Show Up for Democracy in 2004: Defeat Bush (again!)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=524&e=1&u=/ap/20031214/ap_wo_en_po/eu_pol_netherlands_clark_saddam
Wesley Clark calls for transparant trial of Saddam
By ANTHONY DEUTSCH, Associated Press Writer
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - U.S. presidential candidate Wesley Clark (news - web sites) called Sunday for a transparent trial for captured Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) that ensured him full legal rights under international law.
The retired general and former NATO (news - web sites) commander said Saddam's capture was welcome news that could have an impact on the anti-coalition insurgency in Iraq (news - web sites).
"I hope this will see a diminishing in the violence against American soldiers in Iraq," he told reporters as he arrived in the Netherlands.
Clark did not say who should try Saddam, but said the trial should be conducted with "the highest legal standards. There can be absolutely no doubt about the rights of the accused."
The case "needs to be as public as possible and the evidence needs to be aired and charges brought," he said.
Clark, contesting for the Democratic nomination for president, declined to comment when asked how Saddam's capture could affect the race or the standings of President George W. Bush (news - web sites).
Clark was on his way to The Hague (news - web sites) where he has been summoned to testify in the war crimes trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic (news - web sites).
He was to appear in closed session before the U.N. tribunal Monday and Tuesday, but at the insistence of the U.S. government publication of his testimony was being delayed until Friday to allow it to be reviewed and edited of comments deemed compromising to U.S. national security.
As the former supreme commander of NATO, Clark led a 78-day bombing campaign in 1999 aimed at expelling Milosevic's Yugoslav forces involved in a bloody crackdown on ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.
Clark also had extensive contacts with Milosevic when he served as director of strategy, plans and policy for the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the mid-1990s when the United States was trying to negotiate an end to the war in Bosnia.
(ad/am)