How long will the Bushists be able to milk Saddam capture?

[BurtWorm]

Poll question: How long will the Bushists be able to milk Saddam capture?

[Silverhair]

1. Don't forget the trial of SH, televised live.

The Iraqis want a speedy trial. We are telling to be just a little bit patient and gather lots of evidence to present at the trial.

Trial in August - September time frame. (October would be too obvious.) Lasts for weeks. Lots of victims telling their stories, pictures of torture & rape rooms, mass graves, gassed villages, etc, etc. Trial of the century type stuff. Lots of talking heads to explain it to anybody that can't get it.

This cow is going to get milked a lot.

[BurtWorm]

2. The capture of Saddam is one thing.

A big dramatic thing in which Americans were involved. Unfortunately for the Bushists, Saddam looked about about as fearsome as a railroad yard hermit, and the spectacle of him being prodded and poked by examiners made him seem actually pathetic. What kind of long-term impact this will have is not clear. Would it have been better for the Bushists if they'd pulled Saddam's charred body out of rubble? I think so. They wouldn't have had the possibility of Saddam actually saying anything interesting to ruin their theatrics.

As for a trial, we know how interested Americans tend to be in foreign affairs. They're hanging on every word at the Milosevic trial, aren't they? Of course, in the case of Saddam, the Bushists have allies in the media who can see to it that Saddam's trial gets airtime, especially if it falls during the week of the Democratic convention.

[Supormom]

4. The media whores

will make it interesting to the American public. The usual spin will ensure that there are plenty of on-the-edge-of-your-seat moments throughout the trial.

[BurtWorm]

5. How edge of the seat can a trial in Arabic be for Americans?

Will the media whores really waste resources on live coverage of a trial in a language they have to translate for their audience?

Also, why is a trial of Saddam by Iraqis necessarily a plus for Bush--so much of a plus that it will make Americans rush out and vote for him in November?

[Octafish]

3. They've got FREE press ad infinitum or until they haul Osama...

... out of the mobile freezer in October 2004. Until then, here's the image we'll see 24/7:



Courtesy of the Jeff Rense collection.

[BurtWorm]

6. If Ramsey Clark is Saddam's lawyer, you can be damn sure

his trial won't be covered too closely by the US media.

[Octafish]

11. That's a GREAT point!

Thanks, BW! Ramsey wants to impeach the GOP bastards. He'll bring to light some of the treason the...Oh. Who appoints Saddam's counsel? Rove?

[BurtWorm]

13. That's also a good question.

Does Saddam have any rights to pick his own counsel, for instance? I don't know. I would think Rumsfeld would want to control that process, more than Rove.

[Silverhair]

14. His rights will be defined by the Iraqi gov't, and may be expected

to be somewhat different from ours.

[Cat Atomic]

7. Give it 2 months. The only time you'll hear about Hussein's capture

is when someone asks, "why are we still in Iraq, and why are our troops still being attacked?".

[Papa]

8. They will milk this thru the election

I'd bet the farm that we will see this trial on TV, it will drown out the democrats and all criticism of BUSH, and it will begin in the summer and run till late November. There won't be an opportunity for the Democrats to get out the message, and Bush and CO. will be ruthless in questioning our patriotism while Saddam's trial is on our tv 24 hours, 7 days a week. You can count on it.

Same thing happened during the last elections, nobody could get a message out because of the war, terror alerts, etc..

[BurtWorm]

12. Would you watch it? Would such a trial affect your vote?

[Guaranteed]

9. Another thing that would probably put a stop to it

is another tape from Osama coming out. Would be a reminder of who the real threat against the US is.

[ShimokitaJer]

10. It's already jumped the shark

The best thing that could have happened for the Bush administration (though not for the Iraqi or American people) would have been for Saddam to have been killed in a raid. The second best thing would have been to never catch him. Saddam in custody with continuing attacks on American soldiers calls to attention every lie Bush has told about where these attacks are coming from. Many of the war supporters who don't really understand what the war is about will be expecting it to end now, and when it doesn't, they're going to start to wonder why.

A long trial for Saddam is good news for Democracy-building in Iraq, but not for those who want Saddam's very real ties to earlier administrations shut up (Rumsfeld, anyone?) I see no political capital to be built up for Bush here.