US debates bid to kill Hussein and avoid trial

[Nambe]

Boston Globe Newspaper Company

Senior Bush administration officials are debating whether to order military commanders to kill rather than capture Saddam Hussein to avoid an unpredictable trial that could stir up nationalist Arab sentiments and embarrass Washington by publicizing past US support for the deposed Iraqi dictator, according to defense and intelligence officials. ---

But as US troops step up the hunt for Hussein near his hometown of Tikrit, the prospect of an open trial that puts him on a public stage has given pause to some in the administration, according to government officials with knowledge of the high-level meetings. Among those said to have taken part in the discussions are Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld.

One of the officials, who is involved in the Iraq reconstruction effort, described at least one of the leaders as having ''mixed feelings'' about whether to kill or capture Hussein.

Cheney, whose office would not comment on the issue last night, and senior Bush advisers are said to worry that a trial would be a spectacle in which Hussein could tap into Arab anxieties about the American occupation, try to implicate the United States for previously coddling the regime, and assert Iraq's compliance with United Nations resolutions outlawing weapons of mass destruction -- measures that the administration says gave legal justification for the war.

Publicly, US officials contend that the decision to capture or kill Hussein will be up to commanders on the ground, the same scenario presented after American troops killed Hussein's sons, Uday and Qusay, in a firefight on July 22. Depending on the circumstances, the senior officer on the scene would determine whether conditions permit Hussein to be detained with minimal danger to American troops or civilians.

''This is a tactical issue,'' Lieutenant General Norton Schwartz, the director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Tuesday. Nevertheless, the Bush administration is engaged in a fierce debate over the implications of that policy. ---

Banish bush From Texas Too

[mike6640]

1. emperor *bush

gives the thumbs down....and the crowd roars to life!

[qb]

2. Imagine the money we could save

if prosecutors in the criminal court system had a moral compass as f***ed up as the BFEE.

[Bonhomme Richard]

3. God are these people sick

Our Government actually debating whether to kill someone or not.
This is not the country I grew up in.

[MuseRider]

8. And they are debating

it on the terms of what would be most beneficial to them.

[HFishbine]

13. Exactly

There's no moral consideration; no legal consideration. It's very much like everything else the Bush adminisration does. "What will benefit us," and "can we get away with it?"

[Neutrino]

9. Paul Bremer on Meet the Press said that Saddam was not

behind the current attacks. So, let's see--no WMD, no Nuclear
programs, no purchases from Africa. His sons have been murdered,
his Government has been toppled, so we are left with:

"he trod to keel mah daddah". Well, yer daddah is very much alive.

The United States of America does not assassinate Heads of State,
and certainly does not assassinate deposed Heads of State.

Very, very, bad move. But then there never has been good judgement
in this whole horrible poor excuse for "war".

[dbt]

4. Ah, yet another trial balloon

The junta has to get the sheep accustomed to the idea of killing Saddam outright--which oughta be no problem among the Freeps and the Focks viewers.

If Saddam told half of what he knows, it would be VERY embarrassing for bu$h and co.

:evilgrin:
dbt

[Neutrino]

15. Plus the fact that when you get right down to it--Saddam

handles himself very well--to wit, the high Q Ratings he achieved
from his interview with Dan Rather. Regardless of how you feel
about Saddam, you have to give him credit for that. In a Trial
he would defend himself articulately. Compared to the Leader
of the Western World. Can't have that--people defending themselves.

[LauraK]

5. Hmmm... The shortest debate in history.

As the compasionate conservatives bare their teeth.

[NYC]

6. I'm glad this made a Boston newspaper.

At least we are not reading it in the Guardian.

[LauraK]

22. The Boston Globe usually appeals to America's better half.

It would be a good place to hold a 'tea party' for schrub.

[patdem]

7. ALL the people that supported Sadaam are now BACK in power

that is what the debate is all about. Those that supported Sadaam in the 80's are now back in postions of power and that will prove to be an embarassment! So they say kill the fuc**r so we will not be embrassed!

We DO live in a bizzaro world!!!

[Journeyman]

10. This same debate took place before Nuremburg. . .

yet the trial went forward. Surely, no one contends Saddam Hussein and the Baath Party is a greater threat than the perpetrators of World War II?

Or maybe these morans do?

[0007]

11. Our While House

is lower than a pen of swine

[bowens43]

12. There's no debate. They're gong to kill him.

There is no way the bushies would ever allow saddam to testify in a court of law. He knows way too much about the roll played by idiots father and the reagan era retreads in the atrocities that took place during the Iran/Iraq war.

[saigon68]

17. THEY WILL KILL HIM

No quarter asked ----no quarter given.

DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES

[Neutrino]

18. Well, they have to find him first--

and if that Futures market of Poindexter's were up and running,
my money would be on never gonna find him.

[saigon68]

19. THEY ALSO HAVE TO FIND OSAMA

What a clusterfuck. I tend to agree although I thought he would have seen that his sons were protected better.

[tom_paine]

14. This phony debate is also a Stalinist Joke

(lot of those going around the Empire these days)

This is yet another instance of a joke who's outcome was pre-ordained from Day #1 (just like in Stalinist Russia) like the Iraq War "debate" and others.

This Bushevik "debate" (Emperors and Totalitarian Minions don't "debate" as Free People do) can only end one way.

With Saddam dead.

Mark my words and etch them into stone.

If there were anyone dumb enough to take this bet, I would bet my home equity and next year's salary that Saddam will meet the same fate Ootie and Cootie were purported to have met.

Maybe some Freepers would like some o' that action...

[Vitruvius]

27. Of course 'the outcome is pre-ordained' -- esp. if Saddam is in a freezer

on one of our new bases in Iraq. I think there's a 1 in 3 chance he is.

[pinniped]

16. Now we all know who should be on trial here.

Is there any chance in hell BuShit and his cronies will ever be held accountable for their crimes?

[oldcoot]

20. How will the world react?

I wonder how the world will react to the U.S. killing Saddam Hussein. While Hussein was not a popular man, I doubt that many national governments will be pleased with the United States assassinating him. I am especially concerned with the reactions of Arab nations in the Middle East. I think that the U.S. should try to take Saddam Hussein alive if possible. An international court could try him for crimes against humanity. This will prevent him from becoming a martyr.

[TEXASYANKEE]

21. OMG

I don't believe I am reading this.

[Rex]

23. This is such a stupid idea

Okay, suppose they go ahead with the assassination idea; Saddam will NOT be taken alive under and circumstances. They finally corner him, and out he comes, hands in the air. THEN WHAT? Oh yeah, don't forget someone has a camera, or that the press is there. THEN WHAT? Do we just shoot his ass, fill em full of bullets...you know, MURDER HIM?

Are we no better than he is?

[leesa]

24. Since assassination is illegal and we have never been at war with Iraq

what possible right does this asshole have to debate this? We know Bush is a murderer but to debate an illegal assassination publically is a bit much.

[Guaranteed]

25. Gotta find him first, though...cart -> horse n/t

[PROUDNWLIBERAL]

26. Bush (Asshole) The Killer

Bush will have him killed---Bush is on sick F***K*R---he enjoys killing. The whole family is a bunch of stone cold killers!

[Flubadubya]

28. If Saddam were clever....

he would turn himself over to a "neutral" party, maybe even the Hague and seek asylum until a trial can be set up. He certainly knows that the "coalition of the willing" are just that... willing to kill him.

Should he turn himself over and get safe haven, it would certainly spoil shrub's little lynching posse, wouldn't it?

[DemonFighterLives]

29. That's the best idea.

He should seek safe haven. Saddam and Osama worked closely with our Cia and some would say you never leave the cia. It is impossible to tell if these poster boys for evildoers are now working with us or against us. I can believe that Saddam has fallen from favor of the Bush regime and they would sooner have him dead then tell any stories.
I for one would be very interested to hear his side of the story.