Dead To Quickly: Saddam Dodges Kurdistan Crimes

One of the biggest errors in the execution of Saddam Hussein was letting it proceed before the case against him for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Kurdistan was completed.

That was sadly evident in Baghdad today, as the trial judge opened the proceedings with the business of dropping all charges against Saddam, who for reasons beyond his control was no longer able to defend himself in the procedings.

Also today, it became evident that Saddam's power didn't end when he crawled out of his spider-hole and surrendered meekly to young US soldiers:

Legal experts said the Anfal trial would proceed more smoothly without Saddam.

"The trial will be more elastic and easy. It will clarify and expose more facts because Saddam Hussein's disappearance from dock will encourage other defendants to mention some facts that they were afraid to divulge when he was with them," said Tariq Harb, an Iraqi lawyer and legal expert. (AP)

Read it the way Harb would want you to, and this means the remaining six defendants were still fearful of crossing Saddam, possibly out of respect, possibly out of a professional lifetime of seeing the violent and suspicious man in action.

Read it the way I and probably most Kurds read it, and this means the remaining six rats will try to shove the entire crime onto Saddam in an effort to save their vile and revolting lives.

Saddam went to his death convicted of murdering 148 Shi'ites, a massive crime, for sure. But that execution on behalf of the Shi'ites allowed him to forever avoiding having to stand and hear his guilt pronounced before all the world for ordering the deaths 180,000 Kurds. Now his cohorts in crime will use this historic blunder to further mute the revenge and closure the Kurds so rightfully deserve.

Related Tags: Saddam, Hussein, Kurdistan, Execution