Saddam"

The trial of Saddam is such a circus that by comparison, that of O.J. looks like a Superbowl half-time show in which the most extreme thing that happens is that Janet Jackson’s booby pops out to say hello to Justin Timberlake. If it isn’t that Saddam is waving a Koran around like he were some southern preacher selling snake oil and bibles, it’s that Saddam is declaring himself unafraid of execution. If he were Jewish, his mother would ask: “You call that a defense?�

There does seem to be a serious concern about the court having been set up by L. Paul Bremer on behalf of the occupying U.S. forces, rather than by the Iraqi government, or an international body. If the mere presence of the U.S. military in Iraq finds Saddam-backers willing to part with their lives in defense of their country, what will happen if a U.S. court tries and executes their beloved despot?

The defense team walked out, the defense team returned. Saddam’s brother spit into the visitors’ gallery. Pity the poor judge who has to preside over these shenanigans. And pity the average, non-political Iraqi who, when he got done with Saddam’s bullying ways, found them replaced by those of Bush.