“The perception that this is a US-backed court, a product of a US-led occupation, is only one of the challenges Iraq’s Special Tribunal faces. Saddam’s lawyer has already set one of his first actions will be to seek an adjournment to allow the defence to bring its preparation up to a standard closer to that of the American-assisted prosecution.”
Perceptions do matter and the “trial” of Saddam will proceed as predictably as the US-occupation forces dictate. A monster like Saddam should certainly face justice, but the US has no desire to understand the true relationship between Saddam and various Western governments over the years.
Why? As Robert Fisk explained in August 2004:
“Because if Saddam does a Milosevic, he’ll want to talk about the real intelligence and military connections of his regime – which were primarily with the United States.”