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Is the US acting as a sole superpower by snubbing UN? Post your views

Washington: US President George W Bush last night (Dec 15, 2003) said Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein would be put on public trial in a manner to be worked out with the Iraqi people that the world will see as fair.

"We will work with Iraqis to develop a way to try him that will withstand international scrutiny," Bush said at a year-end news conference.

He said the Iraqis are very much involved, because they were the people that were brutalised by Hussein. "He murdered them, gassed them and tortured them," Bush said.

Asked whether he believes that Saddam should be executed, Bush said, "My personal views are not as important as the views of Iraqi citizens."

The President said he would like a public trial in which "all the atrocities" carried out in Iraq are aired.

The US, he said, needs to work with Iraqis to mete out justice, which Saddam did not afford his fellow citizens.

Bush said he was confident justice would be delivered in a fair way.

Asked for a message to Saddam, Bush said, "The world is better off without you, Mr Saddam Hussein. And I find it is very interesting that when the heat got on, you dug yourself a hole and you crawled in it."

While justifying his decision to deny non-allies contracts for rebuilding Iraq with American funds, he reached out to France and Germany and stressed the importance of their joining in the reconstruction of Iraq.

He also pointed out that Germany has troops in Afghanistan. He said it is in the national interest of the United States to work with them in order to rebuild war-torn Iraq.

A united and peaceful Europe is in America's interests and "we look forward to working with them on a wide range of issues, whether in intelligence-sharing or in reconstruction."

Bush opened his meeting with reporters by declaring that the weekend capture of the former Iraqi dictator was clear evidence that Iraq is "on the path to freedom", but he also warned of "further sacrifice" ahead on the part of American troops stationed there.

Bush pointed out that he is sending former US Secretary of State Jim Baker, also a friend, to both France and Germany to encourage them to work on debt relief for Iraq.

He did not agree that the policy on Iraq is the "dividing line" between the United States and those countries.

"This was a disagreement on this particular issue but they could work together on a variety of other issues," he said.

A free and peaceful Iraq, he said, is a part of protecting America, he said.

"It is a transforming event in a part of the world where hatred and violence are bred, a part of the world that breeds resentment," he said emphasising US will stay the course in Iraq.

The capture of Saddam Hussein, he said, makes it clear to the people of Iraq that he is through.

People need no longer have to hold back their sentiments and feelings towards living in a free society, Bush said.

Saddam "is a torturer, a killer" and there were rape rooms in his regime, Bush said adding, "One can understand why people feared him. After all, he stayed in power by ruling through fear.

PTI



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