"You can't execute my client, because we'll riot!"
So says Ramsay Clark, for Saddam. Extortion (which is generally illegal) seems like a rather novel legal argument. The threat of violence if a verdict went a certain way has been discussed before, concerning various American trials, but I don't recall it ever being mentioned by the defence attorney. At least he didn't say that in the courtroom, though that would have been something to see. Perhaps Clark is really a legal genius, setting up an appeal for Saddam on the grounds that his counsel was incompetent.
Those inclined to riot over Hussein getting the Eternal Sand Nap already think this is a kangaroo court; having a kangaroo court made up of gutless wonders is not going to pacify Iraq. I suppose that, rather than sentence him, the Iraqis can just quietly put a bullet through his head and blame a rogue American soldier. Why not? They hate us anyway.
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