Views on News - Saddam

Saddam may get his punishment - but who will account his colonial backers

The Iraqi High Court has upheld the ruling that Saddam Hussein be hanged after he was sentenced to death in November for the massacre of 148 people in Dujail in1982. Whilst this ruling brings to an end the trial of Saddam, it does little to bring justice for the victims of Iraq - whether under the tyranny of Saddam or the tyranny of the present coalition forces.

The brutality of Saddam's rule is not in doubt. His victims were the people of Iraq who suffered for years at the hands of his murderous regime.The accusations levelled at Saddam and his henchmen focused solely on their role in the killings of innocents but made no reference to the weapons they used or whom they were bought from. The extent of US pressure has been that even the US instigated Iraqi constitution has been by-passed in recent days so as to ensure that a verdict on hanging need not require the approval of the Iraqi President or his ministers and risk causing a delay to the execution.

The trial of Saddam has completely ignored his close ties with western governments and companies throughout his years of brutality. It failed to scrutinise the weapons bought from western businessmen, the support given to him against the war with Iran in the 1980's, the meetings with foreign dignitaries and the befriending of his regime by Donald Rumsfeld and the US administration even after the massacres at Halabjah in 1988 . The infamous 'arms to Iraq affair' exposed how the British government was complicit in arms sales to Saddam - arms which we used against innocent people.

Therefore, the complete absence from the trial of the West's own role in grooming the monster Saddam only goes to prove that it was a sham exercise from the start. The sentence and verdict placed upon him has everything to do with his former colonial masters wishing to extricate themselves from association with his many crimes and absolutely nothing to do with bringing justice to the people of Iraq.

The added insult is that Bush and Blair - who are responsible for the deaths of 650 000 innocent civilians in Iraq during the unseating of the former ally of British and U.S. administrations, have faced no legal process, have faced no court and seemed to have escaped all earthly justice. They continue to support dictators, sell them arms, and sponsor the oppression they mete out to their citizens. That indeed is an enormous crime as yet left untouched.

From the onset, the capture and trial of Saddam was designed as a PR exercise - to play out to the International media that U.S. forces had a semblance of control over the worsening situation in Iraq and its government of occupation actually enforces a just rule of law. The most recent manipulation of events was the convenient date Saddam was sentenced, November 6 th - timed to coincide with the U.S. mid-term elections for maximum impact. The verdict came earlier than initially anticipated, and the judge read the sentence before he had delivered the verdict or even rehearsed the charges.

Many commentators have cited this absence of due legal process throughout the Saddam trial contradicting the illusion that real justice now exists after the overthrow of his murderous regime. The trial, courts, judges and judiciary were set up at the behest of the US backed Iraqi government with external pressure placed upon them to ensure 'selective justice' was done and aid the propaganda that US presence is a force for good.

It is clear that the trial and verdict of Saddam was a political show - for the benefit of ruling faction and the foreign occupying governments - and hiding the uncomfortable political truths that link Saddam to those foreign occupying governments. The sentencing of Saddam is simply a victor's justice, not a victim's justice of the thousands who were killed by him under the watchful eye of his colonial masters.