Saddam Arrest Cheer Fades Into Iraqi Ire at U.S.

Already? I expected a couple of days, perhaps
a week of euphoria.

earl

****






Saddam Arrest Cheer Fades Into Iraqi Ire at U.S.
Mon December 15, 2003 05:03 AM ET


By Joseph Logan

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Joy at the capture of Saddam Hussein gave way to
resentment toward Washington Monday as Iraqis confronted afresh the
bloodshed, shortages and soaring prices of life under U.S. occupation.

The morning after Iraq's U.S. governor revealed the ousted strongman was a
disheveled prisoner, Iraqis flooded the streets to snatch up newspapers
emblazoned with photos of the man who ruled them by fear, now humbled and
captive.

Many were ecstatic to see Saddam captured and hoped he would answer for his
deeds but said they would not rush to thank America -- in their eyes the
source of their problems since a U.S.-led coalition toppled Saddam in
April.

"I hope that we get the chance to try him our way, to let everyone who
suffered make him taste what he had made us taste," said Ali Hussein, 29, a
stationery shop owner who said he was still dizzy with joy.

"But whether he's in a hole or in jail, it does nothing for me today, it
won't feed me or protect me or send my children to school," he said.

Even as news of Saddam's capture sank in, car bombs ripped through two
police stations in the capital, the latest in a series of attacks U.S.
forces blame on loyalists of Saddam and on foreign "terrorists"
infiltrating Iraq.

President Bush warned that catching Saddam would not end attacks by people
who do not "accept the rise of liberty in the heart of the Middle East,"
implying a pledge of a better life many Iraqis said Bush was failing to
keep.

"AFGHANISTAN"

"It's great that he's caught, but it wasn't him who screwed up the petrol
and the electricity and everything else so badly, so now a canister of gas
that was 250 dinars costs 4,000, if you can get one," said Ghazi, a
52-year-old dentist, from his car as he queued with hundreds of other
drivers waiting for petrol.

"This is an oil country and it should be rich. It should not be
Afghanistan."

Other drivers echoed the complaints of chronic fuel shortages in a country
with the world's second-largest oil reserves, as well as of their treatment
at the hands of troops who have killed civilians while hunting suspected
Saddam partisans or pursuing criminals with Iraqi police.

"The Americans promised freedom and prosperity; what's this? Go up to their
headquarters, at one of those checkpoints where they point their guns at
you, and tell them that you hate them as much as Saddam, and see what they
do to you," said Mohammad Saleh, 39, a building contractor.

"The only difference is that Saddam would kill you in private, where the
Americans will kill you in public," he said.

"A lot of things -- safety, freedom, prosperity -- that we were supposed to
have are gone. They promised many things, and now that they have caught
Saddam maybe they kept one."

© Reuters 2003. All Rights Reserved.

Following up to Earl Evleth

Already? I expected a couple of days, perhaps
a week of euphoria.

what's the view on what should happen to him?

*Iraqi* trial to my mind.
--
Mike Reid
"Art is the lie that reveals the truth" P.Picasso
Walking-food-photos, Wasdale, Thames, London etc "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" -- you can email us@ this site
and same for Spain at "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" -- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap

On 15/12/03 18:27, in article ,
"Reid" wrote:

what's the view on what should happen to him?

Different communities reacted differently.

The French Arabs will be unhappy, not in getting rid of Saddam but getting
rid of a fellow Arab and having him so treated. I mostly get a feeling for
what those Arabs in prison feel, and a lot of young Arabs would like to,
emotionally, go to Iraq and help their brothers. They won`t but
that fires some of them up for other things.

Saddam is not popular with the ethnic French so I think they are nearly all
happy he is gone. There are mixed feelings since they also don`t like
Bush. So they are in a double bind.

I'd sau that most French feel like most American Democrats. Basically they
don`t want to see Bush profit from anything. Nor give him credit.
That is a permanent feeling, it will not go away.

Earl

Earl Evleth wrote:

I'd sau that most French feel like most American Democrats. Basically they
don`t want to see Bush profit from anything. Nor give him credit.
That is a permanent feeling, it will not go away.

Thats typical partisan politics though. Never give credit to the other
side for it hurts your chances in the upcoming election. The worst
thing that can happen to the USA democrats is for the economy to
improve. They fear it so much they have taken out ads on TV telling
people that reports of economic improvements are false. IOW's, they
want things to turn sour. Part of campaign 2004.

On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 17:27:07 +0000, Reid
wrote:

Following up to Earl Evleth

Already? I expected a couple of days, perhaps
a week of euphoria.

what's the view on what should happen to him?

*Iraqi* trial to my mind.

It's really unpredictable.

The big factors I can see thus far:

- Iraq is simply not ready to put him on trial. They are unlikely to
have an elected government for years, and the current governing
council is next to useless.

- Saddam would just love to spend hours in front of the international
press dredging up all the juicy dirt on members of the US
administration that helped him and then betrayed him in the past.

- He is actually alive. It would have been MUCH neater and cleaner for
him to be dead. The Bush admin now has to ensure his view does not get
heard with any semblance of clarity. This will require some serious
railroading of the justice process.

- He will draw much attention to the absence of WMDs during a US
election year. They really don't want an ugly trial going on. Saddam
would almost certainly take advantage of this. Also, the trial may
well not take place under the current US admin if Bush gets voted in
again, which is always a possibility.

- Iraqis want justice Iraq-style, the UN wants justice UN-style, and
Bush just wants blood. Getting consensus will be a political decision,
and thus largely random.

- Time. Dealing with him quickly would be preferable for the US. Under
a Milosovic-style trial, it could take many years to get a conviction.

On Wed, 17 Dec 2003 13:13:47 +1000, Deep Freud Moors
wrote:

On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 17:27:07 +0000, Reid
wrote:

Following up to Earl Evleth

Already? I expected a couple of days, perhaps
a week of euphoria.

what's the view on what should happen to him?

*Iraqi* trial to my mind.

It's really unpredictable.

The big factors I can see thus far:

- Iraq is simply not ready to put him on trial. They are unlikely to
have an elected government for years, and the current governing
council is next to useless.

- Saddam would just love to spend hours in front of the international
press dredging up all the juicy dirt on members of the US
administration that helped him and then betrayed him in the past.

- He is actually alive. It would have been MUCH neater and cleaner for
him to be dead. The Bush admin now has to ensure his view does not get
heard with any semblance of clarity. This will require some serious
railroading of the justice process.

- He will draw much attention to the absence of WMDs during a US
election year. They really don't want an ugly trial going on. Saddam
would almost certainly take advantage of this. Also, the trial may
well not take place under the current US admin if Bush gets voted in
again, which is always a possibility.

- Iraqis want justice Iraq-style, the UN wants justice UN-style, and
Bush just wants blood. Getting consensus will be a political decision,
and thus largely random.

- Time. Dealing with him quickly would be preferable for the US. Under
a Milosovic-style trial, it could take many years to get a conviction.

(prematurely posted, but close enough)
---
DFM

On Wed, 17 Dec 2003 13:13:47 +1000, Deep Freud Moors
wrote:

- Saddam would just love to spend hours in front of the international
press dredging up all the juicy dirt on members of the US
administration that helped him and then betrayed him in the past.

Perhaps Saddam would confine his remembrances to Rumsfeld and the US,
but I doubt Putin or Hussein's "dear friend" Chirac are comforted by
this possibility. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3324053.stm

Gordon

Deep Freud Moors wrote:
- He is actually alive. It would have been MUCH neater and cleaner for
him to be dead. The Bush admin now has to ensure his view does not get
heard with any semblance of clarity. This will require some serious
railroading of the justice process.

Nobody except the converted is paying any attention to Milosevic. I don't
think Saddam has any more credibility; who's going to listen to him?

miguel
--
Hundreds of travel photos from around the world: http://travel.u.nu/

Following up to Miguel Cruz

- He is actually alive. It would have been MUCH neater and cleaner for
him to be dead. The Bush admin now has to ensure his view does not get
heard with any semblance of clarity. This will require some serious
railroading of the justice process.

Nobody except the converted is paying any attention to Milosevic. I don't
think Saddam has any more credibility; who's going to listen to him?

I don't know, if he call discredit both the US and the French in
the same sentence, both will listen.
--
Mike Reid
"Art is the lie that reveals the truth" P.Picasso
Walking-food-photos, Wasdale, Thames, London etc "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" -- you can email us@ this site
and same for Spain at "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" -- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap

On Wed, 17 Dec 2003 13:13:47 +1000, Deep Freud Moors
wrote:

[----]

- Iraqis want justice Iraq-style, the UN wants justice UN-style, and
Bush just wants blood.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/cartoons/s...107961,00.html

[----]