European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 21, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Make Saddam s War trial a Public spectacle lbs journalist Bob Simon returned by the iraqis is quoted As saying that he would gladly be present to witness his torturers die a a painful with that eventuality i have philosophical objections but As the hours and Days go by since Al Day i need to confess that Reading about what Saddam Hussein has done stimulates an appetite for yes retribution. We know All about the objections. We done to want to a make him a Martyr. It is not Clear who has jurisdiction. The . Security Council would probably run into a veto if it set up a tribunal. A tribunal in which China i and the soviet Union sat would cause the same kind of moral problems brought on by the tribunal at Nurnberg where Josef Stalin a representative passed moral judgment on the behaviour of people different from Stalin Only in that they lost the War. And so on. But let us for a moment reason As Jimmy Breslin puts it a posterior. That is from the particular to the general. What particular do i have in mind Here is the scene i would find appropriate. Saddam is standing his hands bound behind him on a High platform. To his right a Hangman a noose. In front of him is a very wide screen behind which television technology is standing by to Send out the ensuing documentary visible to Saddam and the thousands of spectators surrounding him to every country in the world. The program could take an hour two hours for that matter All Day. It would begin with pictures movies Tes Timony from witnesses in Kuwait City who saw the tubes snapped from the babies in the Hospital thus ensuring their deaths. Then one after another a dozen survivors of torture who would describe what had been done to them. Then pictures of another dozen victims of torture men and women who did not survive. Pictures of the prisoners of War who were maltreated and even tortured. A then pictures of the destruction of Mitch of Iraq t brought on by Saddam a Defiance. Pictures of the Oil spill and the damage it did to the persian Gulf. Pictures of the burning Oil Wells. Pictures of 100,000 dead iraqi soldiers and of several Hundred coalition this Point a solemn figure stands Forth and says in virtue of the finding of the. This is the missing part in a posterior analysis tribunal we shall proceed with the is led to the noose which is placed Over his head. The last sound he hears is the Boos from the iraqis and kuwaitis who surround him in the stadium. Now i know All about the problem of victors Justice i know the Legal arguments against Nurnberg and David Broder i have run my hands Over the soft profile of the Politi Caj argument against and find it unappealing. If Muslim Pride is offended by executing such a Muslim As Saddam then we ought to do something about Muslim Pride after taking care of Saddam. But those who fear outlaw Justice should reflect that the fourth Geneva convention and Iraq was a signatory of the Geneva conventions holds All signatories responsible for carrying out the terms of said convention and no one disputes that Saddam did not do so. Moreover it holds that any party to the convention that has jurisdiction Over the defendant can proceed to try him. Nobody has jurisdiction Over Saddam at the moment a certainly not Mohammed. This is an argument for the relevant nations to Brace themselves to assert such jurisdiction. It May be a while before we can get him in the manner of an Adolf Eich Mann strolling the streets of Buenos Aires apprehended 25 years later by an expeditionary team of israelis. Much better sooner than later but better then than not at All. There is no objection that occurs to us As Diapositive Why the kuwaitis should not offer a no questions asked Bonus of say $10 million for Saddam alive and proceed to try him. They can easily raise the Money from the television rights and it would be a very Nice touch if Peter Arnett were the master of ceremonies. C Universal press syn Cicato. Media should pursue Complete Story of War a reporter like me who got no closer to the persian Gulf War than the e King of the Pentagon has weak credentials to enter the debate on the ground rules the defense department Laid Down Tor covering the conflict. But it does strike me that much of the controversy misses the Point. F Lerna a justification the Pentagon of tired for imposing requirements that All Atti front dispatches be subject to review was to prevent disclosures that could jeopardize lives or Compromise operations. Pete Williams the Pentagon Public of aids chief wrote in a Washington Post a tie defending the system that the ban involved things like a details of future of a ,0"s spec of c information about troop. Ring the and locations information a i out downed aircraft while recovery efforts were under Way and information on pc rational weaknesses that could be ised against . those Are obviously reasonable sex i sons and As Williams noted a they i Eleast controversial part of the to Quot. A fact Williams said of the 1,351 Pool reports filed by print reporters in a hostilities Only one was Nin be Pentagon monitors to in of the in Security and that the editor at reporters publication agreed that it should be altered to protect intelligence sources. The conflict Between the press and the military on real matters of Security is minimal. The Post and other organizations voluntarily withheld information they possessed that would have tipped off Saddam Hussein to the flanking Man Euver that routed his forces. They voluntarily withheld information about the operations of special forces units behind iraqi lines. The press does not have to prove its patriotism a nor apologize for its judgment. So Why construct an elaborate and time consuming review system to safeguard secrets that Are in no jeopardy a. ,. Williams concedes that the review process was Pokey. Michael Getler the Post editor in charge of War coverage says that delays of 48 hours or More were common. The delays Cost the Public timely information and did not increase the Security of the military operation. The review process ought to be dropped. A but the other great press complaint a that the military did not let reporters move about the Battlefield on their own a has less Merit. Everyone wanted a piece of this Story so 1,600 reporters were in saudi Arabia when the ground War began. That s one reporter for every 325 soldiers sailors and airmen a a remarkable ratio. Only 10 percent of the press gang was allowed into a a pools with combat units meaning 90 percent were mad As hell. Their gripes Are out of line. There a a difference Between saying that the american Public needed full coverage of the War and arguing that every single reporter sent to saudi Arabia was entitled to his or her own piece of the Battle if the 160 a a Pool reporters with combat units were not capable of describing the look the sound and the feel of War the news organizations that hired them should replace therm but in fact they proved their capability. Having another 1,440 reporters trying to cover the same Story would not produce a proportionate increase in information. It would Only Burden the military people trying to fight a War. A pack journalism yields shoddy results whether its on the Battlefield at a political convention or at the kind of theatrical news conferences president Reagan liked to hold. In fact we Are Only beginning to read the Best a and most valuable a reporting about the persian Gulf War now that the fighting is Over. It is coming from reporters who recognize that a War is much More Complex than a prizefight and can not be adequately described or Analysed As it is happening. The Best reporters Are going Back now when sources can no longer plausibly claim the Protection of a military Security a and giving us the real Ity no one could report at the time. In the Post for example Barton gel Iman has reviewed the air War and reported that 70 percent of the bombs dropped on Iraq and Kuwait missed their targets. Molly Moore and Bob Woodward have examined the overestimation by american intelligence of the size of the iraqi army in Kuwait. Don Oberdorfer has retraced the diplomatic history of . Dealings with Iraq and has documented the systematic . Misreading of Saddam a intentions. I his is reporting of immense value for it informs the policy debate in a Way that no Battlefield Quot Colora Story can do. The Only limit on this kind of reporting is the Energy and ability of reporters a and the attention Span of editors. The press will gain Public support not by complaining about Pentagon controls but by staying with the Story until the Public knows what really happened a a tar More Complex and contradictory tale than the government wanted or permitted to be told at the time. C Washington Post writers group
