On 19 Dec, James A. Donald wrote:
Well if there is no legitimate authority, then state of nature applies. Give him the justice that Mussolini and Ceasescu got. Hang him by his feet from a lamp post in central Baghdad for his victims to use as pinata
This would be an argument that the victims have a natural right to administer judgment against Saddam, which might be a valid point. In order to rightly exercise that perogative, the people of Iraq will be required to elect judges, or have them appointed by their elected representative. This would be a legitimate court in Iraq, but US military justice is illegitimate in Iraq, because of the illegal aggression.
But I think we can find a legitimate authority somewhat better than that. And if we cannot, the mob has more legitimacy than the Hague.
I'm afraid that due to the imperious actions of the Bush administration, you may be right about this. Moreover, the US is in a bind, because the US rulers were complicit in Saddam's only credible war crimes. For this reason they will never turn him over to the international courts, where this truth would be spoken loudly and repeatedly. It appears to me that elected judges is the way to go. Thank you for this stimulating discussion. Regards, proclus http://www.gnu-darwin.org/ -- Visit proclus realm! http://proclus.tripod.com/ -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version: 3.1 GMU/S d+@ s: a+ C++++ UBULI++++$ P+ L+++(++++) E--- W++ N- !o K- w--- !O M++@ V-- PS+++ PE Y+ PGP-- t+++(+) 5+++ X+ R tv-(--)@ b !DI D- G e++++ h--- r+++ y++++ ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------ [demime 0.97c removed an attachment of type APPLICATION/pgp-signature]