"The tyrant is a prisoner": Now what?
December 20, 2003 in Opinion
The apprehension of Saddam Hussein raises thorny legal and moral questions for his captors. They could ship Saddam to Guantanamo Bay and let him languish there in legal limbo for the rest of his days. Alternatively, using the Manuel Noriega case as a precedent, the Americans could fly him to the U.S. for trial. President Bush could certainly find some acceptable courts in Texas, Virginia or Florida, the most fervent death penalty states in the Union.
However, the pesky and meddlesome United Nations keeps raising issues of international law, trial fairness and the inappropriateness of capital punishment. Even France and Germany have the nerve to chime in with similar concerns.
What to do then?