Made For Each Other

From CNN today…

Ramsey Clark, U.S. attorney general under President Lyndon Johnson, was added to the defense team (of Saddam Hussein) Monday as an adviser. Clark has been a civil rights attorney and controversial activist in recent years. He opposed the Iraq war and met with Hussein in February 2003, just before the U.S.-led invasion began.

Every now and then, Clark’s causes and wishes intersect with my own, most notably regarding George W. Bush. However, Clark has also defended the Achille Lauro hijackers who murdered American Leon Klinghoffer in 1985, Branch Davidian leader David Koresh, and Mumia Abu-Jamal, the convicted murderer of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. Clark also participated in the “Crimes of America” conference held in Teheran in 1980. So on balance, I would have to say that Clark epitomizes the left-wing zaniness that I find not quite as repugnant as jackbooted Repug intolerance.

Should Hussein be tried? Yes. Are the circumstances of his capture legally sound? I honestly don’t know (putting aside what I think of the war in general for a moment).

I took a few minutes to review some of the U.N. Security Council resolutions related to the war and Dubya’s speech to the U.N. in September 2002 to try and determine the answer. This sentence from Dubya stood out in particular for me.

"In violation of Security Council Resolution 1373, Iraq continues to shelter and support terrorist organizations that direct violence against Iran, Israel, and Western governments."

Since the WMD claim has been proven false (at least, no WMD have been found and Bushco called off the search some months ago), the previous sentence may be the only legal basis for holding Hussein for trial. However, since so much of the rest of Dubya’s flimsy case for war has fallen apart like tissue paper, I’m not optimistic that the capture of Hussein on the grounds of preventing future terrorist acts won’t meet the same fate. I’m sure Clark will argue this strenuously.

Well, if nothing else, Hussein’s trial (which apparently has been suspended for the rest of this week) will provide enough of a show for the dear MSM to occupy itself while it gives barely a mention to this week’s casualties in this Godforsaken enterprise.