Saddam's Lawyers Walk Out, Trial Continues

A group of lawyers defending Saddam Hussein and his co-defendants walked out when they complained that they couldn't mount challenges to the legitimacy of the court's jurisdiction and the charges against them. Guess who was the ringleader of that move.

Ramsey Clark.

The dispicable Ramsey Clark. A genocidal dictator's best friend.

However, the trial continued and the first witness testified against Saddam:

"I swear by God, I walked by a room and ... saw a grinder with blood coming out of it and human hair underneath," Hassan told the court. During his testimony, Barzan, sitting behind Saddam in the dock, interrupted Hassan, shouting: "It's a lie!"

"My brother was given electric shocks while my 77-year-old father watched," Hassan continued. "One man was shot in the leg ... Some were crippled because they had arms and legs broken.

"My brother and I were in the same prison for four years, just a few feet apart, but we would not see each other."

Saddam and his cohorts repeatedly tried to interrupt the testimony, but not before the witness gave compelling testimony about the barbaric treatment at the hands of Saddam's government.

One of Saddam's codefendants made a compelling statement of his own:

Behind him, Barzan chorused: "Long live Saddam." He added: "Why don't you just execute us and get this over with?"

We'll get to the executions after you've been put on trial for all of your evil deeds. The world will know what these heinous individuals have done to their country - all the blood spilled, and history will record that the millions of people who suffered at the hands of Saddam and the Ba'athists will not be forgotten.

UPDATE:
Captain Ed slams Clark's showboating. As if Clark ever showed one iota of interest in the hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of Saddam's victims.

UPDATE:
Flopping Aces has running updates. Go figure that some would appreciate Saddam's outburts. Now, why would they do such a thing? Could it be that they don't mind genocidal dictators? Well, that's exactly the point for some Sunni Iraqis observing the proceedings. They don't like the fact that their former terror master is being treated like a common criminal. Iraq the Model comments as well.

UPDATE:
Ace has some more details, including that Ramsey Clark is busy inflating the body counts (for reasons that even God can't quite figure out).

UPDATE 12/6/2005:
Iraq the Model has a cartoon made by Iraqi cartoonist Mo’ayad N’ima, who died recently. In it, N'ima takes Saddam to task:

“Now you are a nation of democracy and freedom, so would you kindly, if you don’t mind…please, I beg you to let me out so that I can kill some Iraqis again”

Truer words have not been spoken. The media's fawning over Saddam's histrionics compared with the relative lack of coverage surrounding court's admonitions that Saddam can't refuse to appear is put in stark contrast. He butchered his people - time and time again. Never forget that fact. And that's why he's on trial.