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Has Saddam recieved a lawyer yet? Will Saddam be judged by a court having jurisdiction and being recognized internationally?
Saddam will be judged by his victims, who have jurisdiction enough for me. Who cares whether the guys at the Hague agree? Hague claims of jurisdiction have unfailingly led to bad results, as in the current disastrous trial of Milosevic. This is the same problem as occurred when the Westphalian state took over police powers from the local gentry, but in even more extreme form. The more distant the police and courts are from the crime, the criminals, and the victims, the less likely they are to provide justice, and the slower, more expensive, and less effectual that justice will be, if justice comes at all, which it probably will not. Hague justice does not work. It is failing with Milosevic. It would fail with Saddam. The court at the Hague is apt to convict the innocent and acquit the guilty in the face of all evidence, illustrating in more extreme form the problems that occur with the police powers of the Westphalian state. --digsig James A. Donald 6YeGpsZR+nOTh/cGwvITnSR3TdzclVpR0+pr3YYQdkG IiS2b9l7DPo2NQXOdJr115U+lCtla97DXp8x4D8z 4bCeKZNEInAT6Ra8UWqc7RyU+Uo6+JH777FclJ48e