NYT: Hussein Tribunal Shaken by Chalabi's Bid to Replace Staff

[DeepModem Mom]

Hussein Tribunal Shaken by Chalabi's Bid to Replace Staff
By JOHN F. BURNS
Published: July 20, 2005


BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 19 - The Iraqi tribunal preparing the trial of Saddam Hussein has been thrown into turmoil by the dismissal of nine senior staff members and a threat to dismiss 19 others, including the chief investigative judge. The upheaval burst into public view on Tuesday when an aide to Ahmed Chalabi, the former Pentagon favorite who is a deputy prime minister in the transitional government, confirmed that Mr. Chalabi had begun to press for the removal of former members of Mr. Husseim's ruling Baath Party from the tribunal's staff of judges, prosecutors and administrators. Mr. Chalabi contends that the 28 men he has cited for removal are ineligible under Iraqi law to work at the tribunal because of their party affiliation.

It was not immediately clear whether his efforts would disrupt plans for the trial, which is to start in September. An aide to Mr. Chalabi, Ali Feisal, said Tuesday that Mr. Chalabi had delayed his push to dismiss the chief judge, Raid Juhi, and others of the tribunal's 65 members so as not to "disrupt" the tribunal's work or plans for the Hussein trial, but that the removal of the former Baathists would continue as replacements were appointed.

Mr. Chalabi's actions have caused alarm among senior American officials here, including those at the Regime Crimes Liaison Office, which plays a crucial behind-the-scenes role in guiding the tribunal's work. American officials have carried their concerns directly to Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, who has intervened in an attempt, so far unavailing, to curb Mr. Chalabi's assault on the tribunal, Iraqi officials say.

One Iraqi official, insisting that he not be identified because of the risk to his own position at the tribunal, said an American official had warned the Jaafari government that the United States, which holds Mr. Hussein and more than 80 of his top associates in military prisons, that if the wrangling continued, it would "take them to The Hague," a reference to an international tribunal there.

American Embassy officials would not comment on this or other aspects of the dispute. But United States Justice Department lawyers who have led the work of the Regime Crimes Office, which has spent more than $35 million helping tribunal investigations and building a special courthouse, have made no secret in recent months of their exasperation with Iraqi politicians' attempts to interfere with the tribunal's work....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/20/international/middleeast/20tribunal.html?

[metisnation]

1. sounds like democracy

bush style...chalabis got the playbook.

[punpirate]

2. That's really rich...

... the US threatens the Iraqis that they'll take the cases to the ICC.

Since the US isn't a signatory to the ICC, thanks to Mr. Bush and a Republican Congress, how exactly can the US do that?

And, this comes on top of Hussein's top Arabic-speaking defense lawyer quitting in protest because of US interference in the defense, and on top of assertions that the US fiddled with the Iraqi election a bit.

Anyone doubting for a moment that Iraq is not now a client state of the US should make a reassessment of their views.

[leesa]

4. Besides the obvious irony, I'm all for taking it to the ICC, there may

actually be a fair trial then and I would be VERY interested in a fair trial of Saddam. I am certain BushCo and the rest of PNAC would not, however.

[daleo]

7. Maybe Bush would lean on Blair to do it

I think the British are party to the ICC. Nonetheless, the last place the Bush administration would want this to end up is the Hague. Too many secrets about Poppy and St. Ronnie might get spilled.

[punpirate]

10. Oh, yeah...

... no question about that--dispassionate prosecutors and judges at the Hague might well let a line of questioning go on which could make Raygun and Poppy look like co-conspirators. :)

The interesting thing about the rules of the court, too, are involved here. The US is complaining about the way the Iraqis are proceeding, but there's been no suggestion there won't be a trial. Part of the ICC charter is that it will only take cases where the country of record fails or refuses to try suspected war criminals.

Cheers.

[enough]

3. Incredible.

Chalabi again. What the heck does this mean?

[54anickel]

6. I think Chalabi likes stirring up the pot. Besides he's pissed about his

nephew being canned and over the fact that he didn't end up "in charge".

Seems so petty. :silly:

[0007]

18. It means that if the news isn't about Zawahri it tis about Chalabi

No way does this administration want a fair & publicized trial for Saddam Hussein.

[LynnTheDem]

5. "US Justice Department lawyers exasperated w Iraqi politicians' attempts

to interfere..."

Ya just can't make this shit up. Ya just can't.

[Straight Shooter]

8. Why isn't that man dead or in jail?

I mean, honestly. I'm so exasperated by Chalabi I can't even do a decent rant.

:banghead:

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

17. Sharing poor, poor Judy's mattress on the floor.

:think:

[applegrove]

9. Oh - so now, aledgedly - the USA likes the ICC?

[Disturbed]

11. Wasn't Ahmed's cousin charged with murder?

Also, how in the Hell does Ahmed Chalabi an interim oil minister fire judges of the court?

Wasn't A. Chalabi charged with some money fraud scheme in Iraq?

btw A. Chalabi is rabidly anti Ba'athist. He is responsible for a great ourge of party members in Iraq, one of the reasons the country is stil screwed up.

[endarkenment]

16. For anyone else except our own of course.

Although they are uncomfortable with the lack of a death penalty.

[applegrove]

20. Yeah - USA said not ICC for Darfur. But in Iraq this is now okay?

I'm thinking the Bushites want more control over what Saddam says during his trials. Thing is - anger at the US over neocon love of Saddam in the 1980s, could bring the country together. Towards a real democracy.

Man - neocons piling on the myths one on top of each other is getting very difficult. It seems - making up "new realities" again and again in the end leaves the world in as much complexity as simply dealing with the truths out there. Except dealing with the truth will solve things in the end.

So what is it going to be neocons? Are you going to help the Iraqis solve their problems and come together as one? Or are you going to insist that myths that favor you continue... along with the fighting and mayhem?

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

12. How the fuck is he not in jail?

Chalabi, that is. After all the shit he pulled, he's still running around causing trouble?

[Disturbed]

13. Ahmed Chalabi is the temp. Iraq Oil Minister.

Yeah, go figure.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

14. I'm amazed he hasn't been shot, quite frankly.

I'm less surprised that the Iraqi government hasn't arrested him. Spying for Iran seems like it ought to be a big deal to them, but whatever. It just proves they're a bunch of goddamn puppets.

[Peace Patriot]

15. Ahmed Chalabi, the thief of Baghdad, double agent, convicted of

bank fraud in Jordan, the congenital liar who led the New York Times around by the nose, the man as responsible as George Bush for the slaughter of over 100,000 innocent Iraqis and almost 2,000 US soldIers, the liar, thief, murderer and traitor whom the Pentagon has paid millions and millions of our taxpayer dollars to, the foreign agent who ran US foreign policy and led us into this disastrous, illegal, unjust, horrifying quagmire of Middle Eastern tribal warfare, is the DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER OF US/IRAQ, and is FIRING STAFF OF SADDAM'S TRIBUNAL????!!!!!!

I sympathize with the poster upthread who is so outraged he/she can't even rant.

My friends, we are back in Vietnam, and that is a fact. This is exactly the same sort of corrupt, illegitimate, US-imposed, US-funded, stinking, rotten, devious, pigsty we created in South Vietnam as our phony front for war profiteering and drug dealing and the slaughter of two million people.

It is DISGUSTING. It is CRAZY. It is WRONG. It is SO WRONG. And I have to repeat until I am hoarse with shouting it...

The answer to the stink in Washington DC is restoring our right to vote, by throwing Bushite electronic voting machine companies--Diebold, ES&S and brethren--out of the election business NOW--or, at the least, achieving some measure of election transparency with paper ballot backups, strict auditing, and no secret, proprietary programming code owned and controlled by major Bush donors and campaign chairs! The only place where we can get this done is in state/local jurisdictions, where the authority over election systems still resides, and where ordinary people still have some say. The bipartisan corruption in the electronic voting business at the state/local level is daunting, but it is nothing compared to the bipartisan corruption in Washington DC, and it is local and therefore much more fixable. See the DU Forum "2004 Election Results and Discussion" for information and action ideas:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=203http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=203

The majority of Americans have been against this war since BEFORE the invasion. 58% of Americans opposed the invasion in February 2003. I will never forget that stat. It dipped slightly during the invasion (US troops at max risk) and then went right back up to nearly 60%, where it stood throughout the "election," and is near 80% today. Americans also oppose every other major Bush policy, foreign and domestic, way up in the 60% to 70% range--Social Security, the deficit, torture, you name it. OUR OWN government has no "consent of the governed," no legitimacy, and does not represent the majority of Americans. And the only way to get rid of them is to seize our election system back from the private, rightwing interests that currently control it.

We still have that chance--that last bit of local power and influence. Act now! Join your local election reform group, or form your own, and get it done! AMERICANS, WAKE UP!

[DeepModem Mom]

19. "we are back in Vietnam, and that is a fact" --

Thanks for this post, Peace Patriot.

[Disturbed]

21. . Spying for Iran

The Shi'ites in top level positions just made a Military Alliance with Iran. The Shi'ites are the ones that are cozy with Ahmed now. He and his team were the 1st to enter Baghdad and they grabbed two tons of Saddam documents, which they still have. A. Chalabi is no lightweight operator. When he fell out of favor with his sponsors Wolfowitz, Cheney and Pearle because G. Tenet expose the double dealing he quickly schmoozed with al Sistani and his crowd, hence Interim Oil Minister.