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| Iraq |
| Lawyer: U.S. Bears Some Blame for Killing |
| 2005-11-09 |
| EFL: But of course! Bush himself probably ordered it. By SAMEER N. YACOUB, Associated Press Writer BAGHDAD, Iraq - Saddam Hussein's lawyer said Wednesday that U.S.-led "occupation forces" bear some of the responsibility for the slaying of a second colleague in the trial, and the defense team signaled it may not show up for the next session without international security guarantees. Oh, well. Guess we'll have to hang him... Khalil al-Dulaimi, head of Saddam's legal team, spoke one day after Adel al-Zubeidi, lawyer for former Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan, was killed by gunmen in west Baghdad. Thamir al-Khuzaie, attorney for another co-defendant, Saddam's half brother Barazan Ibrahim, was wounded. The attack followed the slaying last month of another defense lawyer, Saadoun al-Janabi, who was found shot to death the day after the trial began Oct. 19. The killings raise doubts about Iraq's ability to hold the trial, although the Iraqi government dismissed calls to move or halt it. The second session is set for Nov. 28. Go a day, take a couple of months off. Sounds like the Massachusetts State Courts... In a statement, the defense team said it considered that date "null and void" in the wake of the attacks because of "the very dangerous circumstances that prevent the presence" of the attorneys "unless there is a direct, neutral international intervention that guarantees" security. After the first slaying, the defense lawyers announced they had suspended further dealings with the special court trying their clients until their security was guaranteed. The latest statement appeared to harden that position in wake of the latest killing. Here's an idea. Why don't you have your clients make a few phone calls? Abdel-Haq Alani, a key coordinator on the defense team, told The Associated Press by telephone from London that the United States was obliged to protect the lawyers as "the occupying power," a status the Americans say they do not have since sovereignty was transferred to the Iraqis on June 28, 2004. Asked whether defense lawyers would be in court Nov. 28, Alani replied: "I believe not." Manolo! Bring the rope! The Iraqi High Tribunal expressed regret over the dangers facing the defense lawyers and said it would "spare no effort" to "achieve justice" in the Saddam case. But first...lunchtime! "The tribunal will take every necessary step to guarantee that all the defendants have a complete defense in the next sessions," the statement added. "This includes any necessary procedures in this regard, which the tribunal already offered to guarantee the safety of the defense council and their duties." PSA's maybe? "Please don't shoot Saddam's lawyers. Thank you very much." Officials have said that if defense lawyers refuse to appear, the tribunal could appoint a new team. Hey! That was easy! Al-Dulaimi, speaking in the insurgent hotspot of Ramadi, brushed aside government suggestions that pro-Saddam insurgents or religious extremists were behind the killings. No, no. Is prohibited in the Koran. Islam is peace! Don't you know that...INFIDEL! "The occupation forces are responsible for this criminal incident, and they bear the responsibility of preserving the lives of the people regardless of their identity," he said. The "Iraqi government also has the responsibility to protect people and put an end to such actions." Evil, bad Americans! Please protect us! He called on "all free people, the United Nations, the Arab League, Arab presidents and kings and the Arab Bar Association to shoulder the responsibility to face the tyranny of the criminal gangs that are targeting the country." If that's who you're betting on to do something, counselor, why don't you just shoot yourself in the head and get it over with? President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd and longtime Saddam opponent, also condemned the assassination and urged the rest of the defense team to accept government protection, which they had refused. Hmmmmmmmmm? Might be why they...keep getting shot? Regardless of who was responsible, the killing of another defense lawyer reinforced grave misgivings among human rights groups and international lawyers about holding the trial in a country gripped by a brutal insurgency — much of it led by the defendants' supporters in the Sunni Arab minority. Oooooh. Grave misgivings... "I don't understand how you can have a fair trial in this atmosphere of insecurity, with bombs going off," said Richard Goldstone, the first prosecutor at the U.N. tribunal for war crimes in the former Yugoslavia and one of the world's most prominent jurists. Yeah, how's that one going...and going...and going..Dick? He told the AP by telephone that Iraq's government should consider shifting the trial to an Arab country "where there is security." Someplace like Gaza, maybe? Associated Press correspondent Jamal Halaby contributed to this report from Amman, Jordan. Which I'm sure was read with great interest in the bar at the Palestine. |
| Posted by:Crereque Chager1752 |
| #7 There's an Arab Bar Association? Who knew? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-11-09 22:41 |
| #6 Bring him to Northern Virginia. He can stay at the Quantico BOQ. It will all be over in a couple of weeks. Lawyers a'plenty, prolly do it pro-bono. He'll be back home to Iraq in time for a Christmas execution. He's a dead man walking, lets get it over with and get him launched off to virgin land. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2005-11-09 22:21 |
| #5 So, they refused protection...then one of them gets shot....and it's the US's fault? Didn't the UN try that same crappy argument after they got boomed in Baghdad? |
| Posted by: Desert Blondie 2005-11-09 22:16 |
| #4 Darn. I thought this was going to be a crazy animal story. I think I'm tired . . . |
| Posted by: ex-lib 2005-11-09 21:59 |
| #3 Saddam Hussein's lawyer said Wednesday that U.S.-led "occupation forces" bear some of the responsibility for the slaying of a second colleague in the trial, and the defense team signaled it may not show up for the next session without international security guarantees. Which has no bearing whatsoever on Hussein's guilt or innocence. Stick to what you've been hired to do, Dirtbag. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-11-09 20:02 |
| #2 Again, just take him out and release the SOB to a mob. This smacks of the old story of killing your parents and then pleading mercy because you're now an orphan. Its the damn lawyers who are whining that the man needs to be tried. BS. Everything in life and everything in this world need not be done with lawyers [though the lawyers will disagree]. The world will be that much safer without the old cockroach. |
| Posted by: Greregum Phomong6307 2005-11-09 18:22 |
| #1 Yep, and every replacement lawyer will get bumped off as well, up to the time they move the trial to the Hague and get Carla del Ponte to take over the prosecution. If that happens, Saddam's prostate will ultimately kill him; it certainly won't be a rope. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2005-11-09 16:00 |