Putting aside for a moment what one might think of the US aggression against Iraq, the occupation or even the trial of Saddam Hussein itself, the judicial proceedings against the former dictator have more than their fair share of irony. And that's totally aside from the fact that he's being given a public, transparent trial with high profile defense lawyers, such as a former US attorney general.
One irony is that ordinary people who may or may not be al-Qaeda members and who may or may not have done anything bad, they are not afforded due process at all within the lovely confines of Guantanamo Bay (or Eastern Europe or wherever else the CIA might have secret prison camps). Yet, one of the world's most odious dictators is being given a public judicial trial with a chance to defend himself in front of the eyes of the world. Brutal tyrants are treated more fairly than men who may be guilty of nothing more than being at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Another irony is that here you have an autocrat widely accused of genocide, using chemical weapons, torture, arbitrary arrests and generally some of the most unimaginable, stomach-turning atrocities. And during his trial, the former Tough Guy was snivelling about not having a pen and of having to walk up stairs because they elevator was broken.
I'm willing to send him a pack of Bics if he quits whining.
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