Saddam Who?
Saddam Hussein taken to hospital — Curiously there is little reporting on any of this. Wasn’t this guy the alleged ultimate reason we went to war in Iraq? Now he’s not important?
The U.S. military says the 69-year-old ex-president has been drinking sweet coffee and liquid nourishment and receiving psychological counselling to try to persuade him to eat.
Saddam Hussein was taken to hospital and given food on Sunday after 16 days on hunger strike and will not attend court on Monday, the chief prosecutor in the former Iraqi leader’s trial for crimes against humanity said.
“To avoid a deterioration in his health he was taken to hospital for medical attention and food was given to him through his mouth,” Jaafar al-Moussawi told Reuters. “He will not be able to attend the session tomorrow.” Conflicting reports on Saddam’s health and his lawyers’ refusal to attend the next court session highlighted the chaotic nature of his trial, which is approaching its conclusion.
Earlier, a U.S. military spokesman said Saddam was well enough to return to court on Monday in response to a report that he had been taken to hospital.
Though it has nothing to do directly with his brutal past, the fact of the US force-feeding Hussein will evoke sympathy from ex-colonial peoples around the world. There’s always a collaborative doctor to oversee shoving a tube down an inmate’s throat to his stomach and forcing gruel down through a funnel.
They’ve all suffered similar treatment from foreign rulers when on hunger strikes — usually from the Brits or the French.
I guess I should add that international law allows for inmates to fast unto death — rather than to justify force-feeding by their warders.
Since when did Bush give a rat’s ass for international law?
“Now he’s not important?”
a) I’m not sure reporting is a measure of importance, but I’ll play along:
b) Correct, dipwit, he no longer poses a threat
c) As far as reporting goes, there a couple other issues going on in the world right now
Not so good at multi-tasking, eh, Bob?
As long as he lives Saddam will be a rallying point for the ex-elite who really would like to regain power and feed once again on the blood of their people. Even if exiled he would be, like Napoleon, a pain in the ass that won’t go away. The strategic thing to do would be wait until the next butcher job committed by his former henchmen, then do him the same way, on TV, with concession stands, bands and talking head “experts” droning on and on and on, thereby turning an unspeakable act of brutality into just another boring day of TV.
Just shoot him in the head. What’s the delay??
I like the “psychological counseling” part. I am sure they brought experts from guantanamo bay and the CIA to encourage him to eat.
Can’t let him die before they execute him… after the show trial.
In the US the states will spend thousands on medical costs to get an inmate well enough to execute. Justice and/or revenge often runs afoul of economic logic. It’s like the state of California spending millions of dollars to prosecute celebrities that they’ll never convict.
At this pace, Sadam will cheat the hangman just like Milsovitch