"Saddam had this huge war going on, and you have to act firmly when you
have an assassination attempt."
Ramsey Clark Defends Massacre of Shia Civilians by Saddam
by Jeff Blankfort
Some time ago, when Ramsey Clark volunteered to be a member of Saddam
Hussein's legal defense team, I sent a message to my list criticizing
his decision to do that. This was not because I don't think Saddam
should be represented in court or that I think the court is legitimate
but because of the message it sent to the majority of Iraqi people who
despised Saddam Hussein and rightly so. The problem is, of course, is
that Clark is one of the most well known representatives of the anti-war
movement and represents the ANSWER coalition and in my mind this is more
than the conflict of interest that it unquestionably is. Thus, the
message that it sends to the Iraqi people is that the anti-war movement
doesn't really care about any Iraqis other than those who have been
killed by US and UK forces, that it, in fact, does not condemn Saddam
for his long history of human rights violations and for his launching a
bloody war against Iran that took well over a million lives. That it was
at the behest of and supported by the US does not acquit Saddam of his
responsibilities as it does not clear any other dictator who the US has
supported in the past or present.
While Clark spoke eloquently in opposition to the sanctions that were
imposed between the two Gulf Wars and in against the deaths and
malformations caused by the US use of depleted uranium, he never said a
word, nor did any of the groups in the anti-war movement publicly
protest when Saddam moved to crush the Shia in the southern Iraq when
they rose in legitimate rebellion in 1991. While it is important to
first recognize our own culpability, one loses credibility by ignoring
that of others.
If there was any question about where Clark stands, it should be clear
by this quote in today's New York Times in which, at the very end of the
article on Saddam's day in court, he is quoted as justifying the
massacre of the Shia civilians that he is accused of in this trial
because Iraq was at war with Iran (that Iraq had started it, he does not
mention). Said Clark"
"Saddam had this huge war going on, and you have to act firmly when you
have an assassination attempt."
It is long past time for the anti-war movement to drop its double
standards. It can begin by saying Ramsey Clark does not speak for us. He
certainly does not speak for me.
November 29, 2005