An Iraqi Kurd, Raouf Rasheed Abdel-Rahman, was named today as the new chief judge in the Saddam Hussein trial. How would you like to volunteer for that assignment. Even though he's an interim judge, if he lasts until the end of the trial, he may be a candidate for the 'witness protection program' that I am assuming U.S. has incorporated into the Iraqi justice system.
The outgoing judge was also Kurdish. I wonder if that's a coincidence or is there a conspiracy to ensure that only Kurdish judges would be impartial in their decision making process. After all, the recent memory of Saddam Husseins's poison gas attack on Halabja's Kurdish population (which now is on top of the 'legitimate' reasons for going to war in Iraq since some of the other reasons like the presence of WMD have been crossed off), as well as Kurds wanting to share in the wealth and political distribution of Iraq, make a great case for a Kurdish judge to listen to defendant Saddam's arguments.
It's too bad a jury of 12, like it is here in the U.S., will not get the chance to decide Saddam's future. Then again, where would we find those 12 people. What about L.A.?
