Victor's Justice

[poliphilo]

Putting Saddam on trial is a tactical error. He waged illegal war; he used torture- oh, gosh- now who else does that remind me of?

Killing people is what national leaders do. It's part of the job description. OK, Saddam was a little more hands-on than most.

When they first dug him out of his hole I thought- King Lear. Now that they've tidied him up King Lear is a poor fit- but there's still something Shakespearian about him. Richard III? Henry IV?

Or if we sidestep a little- how about Marlowe's Tamburlaine the Great?

It's a monster- but it's a tragic monster. It's a bear in a bear pit. It has charisma. It will elicit sympathy.

Comments

[balirus.livejournal.com]

He will appeal directly to the Iraqi people. He will argue that his trial is just one more example of a national humiliation that Iraq is suffering at American hands. He will invoke sympathy for enduring victor's justice. His legal team's strategy is irrelevant; his "humiliation" will be his public defense.

They should have rolled a grenade into that spider hole.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Well yes, the trial will be theatre and he will be the star. Inevitably so- not just because the defendant always is the star, but because he, Saddam, is such a commanding figure.