Butcher of Baghdad to be Hanged

In a judgment that a tree stump could have made, Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death by the Iraqi justice system. Almost an afterthought of the conflict in Iraq, the trial has been marked by outbusts and hunger strikes as well as assasinations. But Hussein's ultimate guilt seemed a forgone conclusion. He'll likely fight it and it still has to be approved by a judicial council, but Hussein will hang. Iraqi law says he must be executed within 30 days of the sentencing.

But here's why I bring this story up. Former attorney general of the United States, Ramsey Clark apparently sent a memo to the judge calling the trial a travesty.

Ok, I get it. It probably wasn't a very fair trial, but does any sane individual doubt that Hussein deserves to die? No. Clark is fighting for the wrong person. If you want to make your stand defending someone by saying they deserve a just and fair trial, this isn't your subject. He's the most brutal and ruthless dictator of the last twenty years at least. He's killed his own people using chemical weapons of mass destruction. So why would a formerly noteworthy United States citizen make this stand and choose this case? Easy, politics. Clark was even one of Hussein's defense lawyers. This is a guy who tried to assasinate a sitting president of the United States and he's being defended by a US lawyer?!?

Clark is a democrat. He was anti-Vietnam, anti-Gulf War, and he's anti-Iraq War. He tried to organize the impeachment of George W. Bush. He attended the funeral of Slobadan Milosevic and was quoted saying that Milosevic was right and was innocent. He's a democratic nutbar.