surprise! it looks like saddam's trial will not be public because of "the possibility that he will mention the names of states and the names of persons to whom he has given bribes and wealth." at least so says iyad alawi, a member of the iraqi interim governing council. alawi claims that secrecy is necessary to avoid poisoning relations between iraq and other states who may have supported iraq in the past, but its pretty obvious that a secret trial would also prevent saddam from mentioning american patronage of his regime during the time he was gassing kurds.
furthermore, alawi himself has much to gain from a secret trial. alawi is a former baathist and no doubt is someone who was "given bribes and wealth" by the hussein government. so while alawi held open the possibility that other countries such as kuwait and iran could indict saddam in their own courts, but only "after the Iraqi trial had finished" and added that he expected saddam would be executed soon after the iraqi trial. the foreign trials, especially an iranian trial, would be out of the control of the iraqi governing council and the u.s. occupying power. so i expect that saddam's execution will take place before anyone else gets a chance to get him in court. the only question is whether the results of the secret trial or the execution itself takes place in October 2004. i'm sure karl rove is trying to puzzle that one out right now.
