GOP wants Saddam trial before election BY RICHARD SISK DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON - Republicans are pushing to put Saddam Hussein on trial before November, hoping an evildoer bounce in the polls carries President Bush to reelection, GOP sources said yesterday. With the election shaping up as a referendum on Iraq, the officials said the televised spectacle of an arrogant Saddam in the dock would offset the Democrats' jibes at the failure to find weapons of mass destruction or prove a 9/11 link. "Now that the WMD argument has been shot down, the freedom argument is the salient one," said a top GOP source. The current timetable for the new Iraqi government would put Saddam on trial sometime next year, but Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) discussed with President Bush and Vice President Cheney last week moving up the schedule to late next month. Specter described the reaction of Bush and Cheney to his proposal as "just listening," but he has prepared a Senate resolution calling for a speedier trial to be introduced when Congress returns from recess later this month. "To try Saddam would put a lot of other issues in perspective," Specter said, and let Republicans argue the war was fought mainly to topple a hated dictator and free the Iraqi people. Cheney hammered at the themes on a campaign stop in New Orleans yesterday. "The world is united in support for a free Iraq," Cheney said. "Iraq and Afghanistan are making steady progress on the path to democracy and self-rule, and we will see this mission through." Other Republicans pointed to the risks of leaning on the new Iraqi government, whose independence has been trumpeted by the White House, to rush to trial. "It's kind of ironic that people have resolutions telling the Iraqis what to do," said a GOP official. Top Republicans in Congress believe the White House would want a Saddam show trial to linger as close to the election as possible. "I think there will be a lot of interest in the White House to let the trial go on for the next several months," said a GOP congressional source. Democrats said the level of violence in Iraq would have more impact on the polls than a Saddam trial, noting that the bounce for Bush's approval ratings last December after Saddam's capture quickly faded as U.S. casualties mounted. Phil Singer, a spokesman for the campaign of Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), said, "Clearly the American people are making up their minds about the President's handling of the war on terrorism and the Bush administration is running scared." http://www.nydailynews.com/07-02-2004/news/wn_report/story/208348p-179665c.html
I think it would be really stupid from a GOP perspective to give the guy face time before the election. It's too much of a wild card considering the knowledge he has, the accusations he might make, and the defenses he might try... He's got nothing to lose...
It seems like a blunder from here; the average voter knows that Saddam is bad; reiterating that is likely to have little to no effect and I imagine most would tune that out. Letting Saddam, who is obviously shrewd enough and a good performer in front of the camera, have the opportunity to get out his side of the story (which will really be the only 'new' angle to a trial and which people will take notice of) is dangerous; i'm sure that he'd like nothing better than to mess with GWB's election chances on the way out.
Hey, after they used Hitler who's left to compare with their putative opponents that everyone knows? Hillary?
This sounds like a bad idea to me. How free is Iraq going to seem when they are being forced by the Admin to hold a trial to give GW Bush a bump in the polls? Also if the US continues taking casualties at about the same rate and there are still all sorts of attacks by insurgents in Iraq, on top of nothing coming out of the trial about WMD or ties to Al Qaeda, this could just remind voters that this war wasn't worth it.
What "officials"? Oh, THAT "offical". Hmmm. Notice the first part is a direct quote but the second part isn't? Read it again... "Hammered at the themes"? He didn't even mention the trial. What "other Republicans"? Oh, him again... What "top Republicans in Congress"? Again, who actually said this? My guess would be no one. What a great piece of crap journalism. Nice writing there, Dick...
I seriously doubt this came from any GOP official, let alone a top official. Assuming that this was the GOP strategy, why the hell would they state it to reporters? This would be the worst tactic since the British marching to battle in a single file line.
