Saddam Hussein could be tried "in the next few weeks" and could be executed if convicted, an Iraqi Governing Council member said Monday. Other council members said the televised trial would likely begin later, perhaps by summer.
The trial will begin "very soon, in the next few weeks," Mouwafak al-Rabii, a Shiite Muslim council member, told The Associated Press.
He and other council members said they were sure the United States would hand Saddam over to the new Iraqi special tribunal for crimes against humanity, but differed on how soon a trial could be mounted against the former dictator.
I think Hussein should be handed over to the new Iraqi government for trial. This would be a big step in showing the rest of the world that we intend on letting the Iraqi's set up and take control of their own government. I do not, however, feel that Saddam should be put to death.
First, he shouldn't be put to death because of what he knows about terrorism in the middle east. There probably aren't a whole lot of people who can provide the type of intelligence that Saddam Hussein can. Even if we did a thorough interrogation before he died (assuming that he'd talk to us) who's to say that 10 years from now he wouldn't be able to provide us information on an issue we didn't know would arise? We can't exactly call him back from the dead. Also, if he knows he's going to die he'll probably clam up.
Its obvious that Saddam has a vested interest in life. Look at his plush palaces. Look at the fact that he didn't put up a fight when our troops found him even though he had encouraged his own soldiers to fight until the death. Saddam likes being alive. If we keep him alive I have a feeling that he'll talk.
Also, some countries have a problem with the death penalty, most notably the United Kingdom, our staunch ally. While they've said that they'd respect a death ruling from the Iraqi government, we'd probably ruffle less feathers if we simply put Saddam away for the rest of his life.
So while many of us probably feel that Saddam should die for the atrocities he committed we should remember that he does have some value to us alive.