Fear the News Cycle

Whatever the merits of the accusations of "voting irregularities" in the Iraqi referendum (which the Iraqis are themselves investigating), something else is coming along that will push it slightly to the side: Saddam's Trial. Omar at Iraq the Model, for example, is more interested in the latter.


UPDATE: Then again, we might get a continuance. For some reason, the court is inclined to grant one. Off the top of my head, that seems a really bad idea for several reasons:

Saddam's been in custody since December 2003. This is now October 2005. How much time does he need?

What purpose does it serve us to drag this thing out, like Milosevic's trial in the Hague? There's no way we're ever going to convince Ramsey Clark that this trial is just. We could wait until Elijah, Jesus, and Mohammed themselves came down and said "Guilty!" and the dictator-snuggling left would still say the whole court was illegitimate.

The longer it goes on, the longer the Butcher gets to present himself as "optimistic and confident of his innocence." I doubt not that Saddam will be as fierce in his defense as Hermann Goering was, and I doubt not that it will be great spectacle. But the whole purpose of this is to demonstrate to the world that this man, and men like him, are not invincible, and we ought to waste no time about getting that across.

Justice should be open, fair, and swift. Let's demonstrate our capacity to do that.