Stop The Saddam Trial Hoax!

I went to bed with my television on and woke up briefly to hear this madness!

Saddam Hussein's trial quickly collapsed into chaos after resuming Sunday with one defendant dragged out of court and the defense team walking out in protest. The former Iraqi leader was then ejected after shouting ''down with traitors'' and ''down with America.''

The new chief judge in the trial, Raouf Abdel-Rahman, sought to show a tough control over the court. He was brought in a shakeup sparked when his predecessor resigned this month after complaints that he was not doing enough to rein in Saddam's frequent courtroom outbursts.

But the stormy session Sunday — the first in a month — was sure to increase doubts over the trial's fairness, already raised by the shakeup that brought in Abdel-Rahman.

After the defense lawyer was removed, the entire defense team left in protest as the judge shouted after them, ''Any lawyer who walks out will not be allowed back into this courtroom.''

Abdel-Rahman appointed four new defense lawyers. But two other defendants, Taha Yassin Ramadan and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, said they opposed the appointment and demanded to leave. They were escorted out.

I don't think they need to have trials for Saddam Hussein in Iraq anyway. At best, he should be shipped to a neutral country, placed under UN control and be tried in a world court. At worst, and I am speaking in terms of reneging what we've promised to the Iraqis who opposed Saddam, I think he should be placed in exile in any country who will take him - just like so many other "brutal dictators." I think this trial is a joke, that the US (and other Western nations)have been complicit in much of Saddam's treachery and that he is no better or worse than some of the other people we are shaking hands with now. Let's stop this farce!