Man, man, man…
Saddam Hussein was in court yesterday…
And what a show it was!
Saddam was very confident and extremely defiant. He was talking like he was still the President of Iraq, and he simply took control of the whole situation.
“This is all a theater” designed by President Bush, whom he called a criminal, to win re-election, he said.
He defended his invasion of Kuwait and questioned how an Iraqi judge could be asking him about it.
In short, he was very strong and unbroken.
I agree that Saddam is a criminal who deserves to be tried in a court of law for what he did.
I had a lot of Iraqi friends when I was in Jordan, and I knew how life was in Iraq not from the media, but from the people who lived it themselves.
It was a nightmare for these people. I had a friend who was afraid of going back to Iraq because they’d catch him and cut his ears off for not going into the army.
And I saw many families scattered and heard many tragedic stories about loss of family and friends.
Anyway, just like it’s always been, Saddam gets his charisma and popularity from his strength and his ability to defy his enemies.
To many arabs, Saddam was the last courageous arab man, the last person who could stand up to the US and defy them and mock them.
Everyone knew about the atrocities he committed in Iraq but still that would all be forgotten and they’d only see the side of Saddam that is strong and defiant, the side they loved him for.
Showing him in court yesterday and showing how he still is strong willed and defiant will only make people admire him for it.
I’ve heard that they showed the video so that people would know that he’s being tried by an Iraqi court and an Iraqi judge and that it would be fair. Well, people know that’s all an image, or theater as Saddam put it, and it’s obvious the US is the one pulling the strings from behind the curtains.
Of course, a lot of people are happy to see that he’s going to be tried for all he’s done, and hope that he gets the death penalty, and they don’t care who’s behind it as long as it’s done.
But some other people see a Saddam who is not willing to let go, who is still confident, who can’t be broken. And they will be awed by that and will admire him more. Something I’m sure the US and the interim Iraqi administration don’t want to see happening.
Very well said. I really liked it, and it’s so very true.
I have to agree with you, the guy appeared as strong as confident as I always remembered him.
I’m no admirer of Saddam, don’t get me wrong, but it was a bit surprising to see that he is still standing!
I hope he rots hear and in hell….
it is people with simple minds that only see a facade of defiance….the bastard killed hundreds of thousands of iraqis…tell me what good did his “defiance” do to the iraqis in specific or the arabs in general?
When I saw the Sahhaf interviews a while back I couldn’t help but think “er7amooo 3azeez Qawmen Zal”, I felt he was a broken man. But yesterday, watching Saddam I had some bit of admiration.. This guy is not going down without a fight..
Not that I agree with him or support what he has done – quite the opposite actually – but you have to admit the way he’s handling it is pretty admirable.. Reminds me of Goebbels Hitler’s right-hand man during his war-crime trial (I think it was the movie/miniseries called Nuremberg http://imdb.com/title/tt0208629/ ).. He was defiant and proud all the way..
Of course – Goebbels committed suicide the day of his execution (he couldn’t stand the thought of being hung and not shot).. I wonder what will be Saddam’s fate..
true many people respect him for the fact that he’s got the spunk to stand up galantly against the western forces. I sort of admire that, better than us other muslim country counterparts who quiver at their feet. and everyone knows its all a theater, tis a joke, the lives of millions played on a joke. Its sad. because each of us is to be blamed, You and i. why? beacuse we are smart inhabitants of this messed up world, and we have responsibiliyt to stand up for what is right, and fight for those suppressed. But why is it that we were so weak, and we let injustice happen. First Saddam and then America. But all we can do is talk. Just adding to the whole drama, ya, you and I.
This is just a diversion of the US-administration to let people forget for a while about what is happening in Iraq. “They” (us-administration) will appreciate if this “trial” will continue until may be October, and it will be wonderful if the sentence will be sometime around November. I “admire” the strength of the media and how they were able in just one day to turn down almost all the news about what’s happening over there in Iraq.
Les hommes confondent souvent haine et amour. Les allemands aimaient Hitler, Les russes aimaient Staline…
Saddam m
He was standing like a Hero.. That’s the subtle thing which makes me one of his admirers.