Counterterrorism Blog

Saddam Hussein's trial is scheduled to begin on Wednesday.  An article by Dan Senor in the Daily Standard provides an excellent overview of the charges that will be leveled against Saddam and the defense strategy that we can expect.

The case against Saddam will be split into 12 to 14 separate trials, each focusing on a specific crime.  When one crime is tried, all the regime officials implicated in it will be tried at once.  These crimes include the 1987-88 Anfal campaign in which hundreds of thousands of Kurds were killed or expelled from northern Iraq; mortar bombardment of the city of Kirkuk; the 1988 chemical weapons attack on the Kurdish town of Halabja; the execution of 8,000 members of the Kurdish Barzani tribe; and the 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

Senor explains that the first of these trials "will be for one of the 'smaller' crimes:  a massacre in the small city of Dujail, about 35 miles north of Baghdad.  It was in this town that a handful of Iraqis attempted to assassinate Saddam in 1982 as his motorcade was passing through.  The regime's response was the razing of the entire city and collective punishment that resulted in the deaths of 150 locals."  Although U.S. officials wanted prosecutors to lead with one of Saddam's largest crimes while international attention was at its peak, Iraqi Special Tribunal officials decided instead to lead with the case that they considered most air-tight and easiest to prosecute.  Senor notes that Tribunal officials believe that "the momentum for the trials would be blunted if Saddam got off on a technicality on the first trial."

A leading member of Saddam's defense team, Abdul Haq al-Ani, has said that there are four facets to the defense strategy:

• The defense will argue that the war that overthrew Saddam was illegal, and thus the Saddam-era constitution, which provided the former dictator with full immunity, still applies.
• The defense will argue that there is no difference between Saddam's crimes and President Bush's response after 9/11, in that a response "to insurrection -- whether for Saddam in Halabjah or Bush in Afghanistan -- had to be swift and overwhelming."
• The defense will call U.S. officials to testify, including Donald Rumsfeld, who "is expected to be singled out . . . as the embodiment of the alleged support that the U.S. gave to Saddam in the 1980s during his use of chemical weapons."
• The defense team hopes that the airing of America's foreign policy dirty laundry "will embarrass the Bush administration into abruptly ending the trial and figure out a way to cut a deal with Saddam, which will include returning him to power."  Yes, al-Ani claims to seriously believe that Saddam is likely to be running Iraq again within a year.

Those interested in following Saddam's trial should check out the excellent Grotian Moment:  The Saddam Hussein Trial Blog.  This blog has assembled a star-studded cast of international law experts, including Raymond M. Brown, David M. Crane, Laura Dickinson, Linda Malone, Michael P. Scharf and Ruth Wedgwood.  The blog currently features debates between the experts on some of the big issues that will be prevalent throughout the trial -- for example, "Does Saddam Hussein Have a Viable Defense Based on the Necessity to Combat Insurgents and Terrorists?"  I assume that they will have continuing coverage when the trial gets underway.