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| Iraq |
| Ex-Envoy: Saddam Deserved to Be Ousted |
| 2003-06-16 |
| Iraq's U.N. ambassador during the dying days of Saddam Hussein's regime said in a television interview that his government deserved to be overthrown. Really now? What brought you to that conclusion? But Mohammed al-Douri argued in the rare interview that the Iraqis - and not the U.S.-led coalition - should have been the ones to oust Saddam. The ones upon whose necks you were standing? Those people? Al-Douri told BBC World that he believes people are glad Saddam is gone. ``But they are not glad that the American and British are there,'' he said, according to a partial transcript. ``The regime is over and now we have to tackle another problem, the American and British presence in Iraq as a colonialist.'' If you want us to leave, help transform your country into a stable, liberal democracy. Asked if Saddam's regime deserved to be toppled, al-Douri said, ``Not by you but by the Iraqi people.'' Sure, Mo, and you were just about to show them how when we intervened. For months, Al-Douri vehemently defended Iraq as America and its allies sought U.N. backing for war. With U.S. troops making rapid progress across Iraq, he became the first Iraqi official to publicly say the war was over, leaving New York in April. During his time as Iraq's U.N. ambassador, al-Douri repeatedly insisted Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction. In the BBC interview, he largely stuck to that claim, saying the government told him these weapons were destroyed in 1991-1992. ``I would right now believe that the Iraqi government was not lying, and we are now waiting for the American and British to present evidence on these weapons of mass destruction,'' he said. Of course, you're a diplomat. Pressed about Saddam's responsibility in the deaths of thousands of people, al-Douri said: ``If he were judged, I would accept the trial and the legitimacy of the court.'' Al-Douri added, however, that a murderer should be tried in his own national courts. Funny, we were thinking along similar lines for a fair number of the Ba'athists. By the way, Mo, do you have a good lawyer? The former ambassador has largely stayed out of the public eye since abandoning his U.N. position. His appearance on the BBC interview program ``HARDTalk'' came more than a month after a live chat with Dubai-based al-Arabiya television. Stay gone, Mo, they don't need you. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #3 This fellow is more transparently pathetic than even his comb-over. |
| Posted by: af 2003-06-16 18:12:14 |
| #2 And you felt this way all along, right, Mo? But it's okay to mouth off about the "colonialists" whenever you feel like it. They won't cut your head off or wipe out your family, right? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-06-16 15:55:50 |
| #1 Jee-zuz, what a slime ball. Ahem...Where was this interview filmed? |
| Posted by: mojo 2003-06-16 10:54:12 |