Re: From War Crimes Prisoner to POW

Date: January 17, 2004

"From War Crimes Prisoner To POW

Selim Nassar     Al-Hayat     2004/01/17

The American media presented the idea of Saddam's military tribunal, and raised many questions concerning the motives and incentives behind this military tribunal and whether it would alleviative pressures on George W. Bush and enhance his image to the American public. Bush, following the news about Saddam's capture, insisted on capital punishment. However, the Pentagon confirmed last week that the former Iraqi president will appear in an American military court and would be considered as a prisoner of war (POW). Observers believe that the French, Germans or even the British, did not influence this alteration in the American decision. French newspapers revealed that the transformation of the American attitude was, perhaps, the result of Bush's concern from the possibility of creating a scandal about his father's previous role, when he disregarded the rebellion of the Shiites and Kurds, after the gulf war and the withdrawal of the Iraqi forces from Kuwait. Another Scandal might be divulged, that is if Saddam Hussein asks for Donald Rumsfeld's testimony to prove Washington's assistance to Saddam during his war with Iran. The U.S. Senate is full of records that condemn the U.S. for providing the former Iraqi regime with weapons of mass destruction, which were used against its own people inside Iraq and against the Iranians during the Iran-Iraq war.

The pentagon perceived Saddam as a POW, and accordingly Dara Noureddine, chairman of the Legal Committee in the ruling council demurred this classification on the grounds that the crimes that Saddam committed have nothing to do with the war against the United States. He believes this classification will impede the prospect of Saddam's appeal in front of an Iraqi court. POWs, according to the third Geneva Convention, should not be terrorized or humiliated. It also states that POWs have the right to adequate food and medication. They have the right to receive delegates from the International Red Cross Committee (ICRC). Today, Bush is boasting that he would grant the Iraqi president a fair trial, as opposed to the inequitable Iraqi trials that Saddam used to eliminate his political enemies. Up until today, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has not release any information from the investigation with Saddam, which took place in a small cell into which light barely, can pass. Perhaps, the only kind of torture the Americans used is depriving Saddam from his sleep. This kind of psychological torture is equivalent to physical torture. Bush had expected Saddam to admit that he possessed weapons of mass destruction, and perhaps this is why Donald Rumsfeld declared Saddam to be a POW, to avoid the idea of capital punishment and to force Saddam to confess to possessing WMDs.

Some American correspondents in Qatar claim that Saddam's status is quite similar to Nazi Gustav Krop who trial was dismissed due of his medical condition. This is what four members of the Iraqi ruling council realized while visiting Saddam in his prison in Baghdad to identify him. One investigator from British intelligence (MI6) said that Saddam did not reveal any kind of information during his interrogation, but the documents that were with him when he was captured were extremely significant and led to quite unexpected results.

Members of the Iraqi ruling council in Baghdad are quite upset about the change of Saddam's legal status, from war crimes prisoner to POW. They sought to find reasons behind this unconvincing categorization; other than that of Rumsfeld's. In light of this, two scenarios were exposed: Saddam Hussein felt disheartened and despondent after the death of his two sons, and the surrender of the majority of the members of the Revolutionary Council. Hence, he decided to surrender himself. Perhaps, his messenger to the Americans was Abdulhameed Hammoud, Saddam's shadow when he was in power. This explains why Saddam did not put up a fight when he was captured. His naïve supporters were satisfied with the explanation that Saddam's daughter gave, that her father was anesthetized during the process of his capture.

However, Saddam's use of the word "surrender," knowing that he does not know any foreign language is a clear indication that Saddam had previously learned this word to use it at the appropriate time. The Americans claim that the person that helped the Americans find Saddam refused to do so before he was guaranteed that his president would not be murdered, like his sons. The Americans took advice from the Israeli and British intelligence regarding that matter. The advice that the Israelis and the British gave, insisted that the Iraqi president must be kept alive, because in the eyes of his supporters he represents the defender of Arab unity, and the mistake of his assassination would turn him to a hero, or even a legend for the Iraqi resistance inside and outside Iraq. The Israelis and the British also advised the Americans not to try Saddam in a public tribunal, and not to underestimate the implications of Saddam's legal representation. Many lawyers have offered to defend Saddam, such as the French Lawyer Jack Frege who was famous for defending the rebels of Algeria and the Nazi war criminal Carlos Barbie.

In an interview with CBS, American Secretary of State Colin Powell said that the American administration did not decide yet when they would hand over Saddam to the Iraqi authorities to enable them to be partners in this case. A Lebanese lawyer, who volunteered to represent Saddam, said that the results of the general elections in Serbia was a disappointment to the west, as Milosevic's party won, while Milosevic was in prison. Accordingly, he expects Saddam's supporters to win the general elections with a majority in parliament, if the election were democratic; especially if Saddam revealed secrets about his relationship with Washington, France and Moscow.

* Mr. Nassar is a Lebanese writer and journalist.
©2003 Dar al hayat"