Sunday, June 25, 2006

Saddam Working on Insanity Defense

Reuters reports that Saddam and his defense team believe that he will be saved from death - and perhaps restored to power in Iraq - when the US begs for his assistance to deal with the insurgency:

Saddam clings to hope US will enlist his aid: lawyer
Sun Jun 25, 3:57 AM ET

Saddam Hussein is certain his trial for crimes against humanity will result in the death penalty, but clings to the hope that Washington will use the sentence as leverage to enlist his aid to tamp down the insurgency in Iraq, the New York Times reported on Sunday.

Saddam's chief lawyer, Khalil al-Dulaimi, told the newspaper in an interview conducted last week in Amman, Jordan, Saddam "knows the sentence has been issued from Washington, and if there is an even greater punishment than the death sentence, he'll get it."

But Saddam clings to hope, believing the way out is to become the United States' "last resort; they'll knock on his door," the lawyer said. "The United States will use this sentence to pressure Saddam to save it from its mess."

Saddam even believes the United States might reinstall him as president of Iraq, al-Dulaimi told the Times.

Deteriorating relations with Iran figure into Saddam's reasoning, the lawyer added. "The Iranian influence is a threat to American interests. ... The only person standing in the face of Iran, which is the enemy of America, is Saddam Hussein."

If Saddam or his attorney think that there's any chance of this happening, then he ought to be acquitted on account of insanity.

The truth is that the US attitude here comes closer to that of Goldfinger.

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