Monday, June 19, 2006

Saddam


I didn't know that the penalty for meglomania, stupidity and self delusion was death.

Iraqi prosecutors ask death sentence for Saddam

Must be the American influence in Iraq.

Of course whats good for Saddam should be good for the White House gang for their illegal war. The White House War Criminals


Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
, , , , , , , , , ,

4 comments:

Matt said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Matt said...

"I didn't know that the penalty for meglomania, stupidity and self delusion was death."

no, that's the penalty for mass genocide and torture. nice try though.

EUGENE PLAWIUK said...

Oh well in that case the U.S. is rather selective about who it persecutes....err prosecutes for these crimes. And not being a signatory to the ICC can hardly be considered a reliable judge of global character. However if you had read the Foreign Affairs article linked you would have found it says this;

"This constant stream of false reporting undoubtedly accounts for why many of Saddam's calculations on operational, strategic, and political issues made perfect sense to him. According to Aziz, "The people in the Military Industrial Commission were liars. They lied to you, and they lied to Saddam. They were always saying that they were producing or procuring special weapons so that they could get favors out of Saddam -- money, cars, everything -- but they were liars. If they did all of this business and brought in all of these secret weapons, why didn't [the weapons] work?"

Members of the Military Industrial Commission were not the only liars. Bending the truth was particularly common among the most trusted members of Saddam's inner circle -- especially when negative news might reflect poorly on the teller's abilities or reputation. According to one former high-ranking Baath Party official, "Saddam had an idea about Iraq's conventional and potential unconventional capabilities, but never an accurate one because of the extensive lying occurring in that area. Many reports were falsified. The ministers attempted to convey a positive perspective with reports, which were forwarded to Saddam's secretary, who in turn passed them up to Saddam." In the years before Operation Iraqi Freedom, everyone around Saddam understood that his need to hear only good news was constantly growing and that it was in their best interest to feed that hunger.

A 1982 incident vividly illustrated the danger of telling Saddam what he did not want to hear. At one low point during the Iran-Iraq War, Saddam asked his ministers for candid advice. With some temerity, the minister of health, Riyadh Ibrahim, suggested that Saddam temporarily step down and resume the presidency after peace was established. Saddam had him carted away immediately. The next day, pieces of the minister's chopped-up body were delivered to his wife. According to Abd al-Tawab Mullah Huwaysh, the head of the Military Industrial Commission and a relative of the murdered minister, "This powerfully concentrated the attention of the other ministers, who were unanimous in their insistence that Saddam remain in power."

EUGENE PLAWIUK said...

Well if they kill him now he will avoid trial in Iran. And then will justice have been served?