Hussein's tactic: delay and defy

Saddam Hussein was defiant from almost the first moment Wednesday at the beginning of his trial on charges that he orchestrated a Shiite massacre.

The former dictator insisted he was still Iraq's rightful leader, attacked the legitimacy of the court that is trying him, and vigorously shook off the hands of his guards as he was led out of the courtroom.

The first day of Mr. Hussein's first trial made it appear that Iraq's former leader will, with some modifications, take the same approach to his trial as that of Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic: seek delay, attack those that are trying him, and continuously insist that he's an innocent man at the mercy of stronger foreign powers.

But in Baghdad and much of the rest of the country, attention was focused far less on Hussein's strategy than on the dramatic spectacle of this man - who is accused of ordering thousands murdered - being hauled before a judge.

Traffic came to a standstill in Baghdad and other cities as Iraqis gathered around televisions for a rare glimpse of a man most hate and many once feared. Cars in Baghdad's infamously long gas lines were abandoned as their owners ducked into coffee shops to watch.

"We want to see him dead, to turn this page, to close this black book," says Anwar Mohammed at a Baghdad barber shop. "It may bring more violence, but this is the peak. After this, it will decline."

"He slept with us. We had nightmares about him," says Mr. Mohammed. "Saddam was a symbol of the Baath Party, and punishing him means punishing the whole system. Any trial at that time, they judged and sentenced you in five minutes. Now there is democracy."

Justice will certainly not be swift in this case, which has Hussein and seven members of his Baath Party on trial for the 1982 murder of more than 140 Shiite villagers from Dujail, north of Baghdad. After Wednesday's hearing, which mostly focused on procedural issues, explaining the defendants' rights, and allowing them to enter pleas, court was adjourned until Nov. 28.

Presiding Judge Rizgur Ameen Hana al-Saedi, an ethnic Kurd whose identity was hidden until Wednesday for security reasons, didn't explain the reason for the delay, but defense attorneys had been pushing for a three-month delay. Wednesday's decision appeared to be a compromise.

For a man some have accused of complicity in the murders of hundreds of thousands, the Dujail case is a small place to start. The murders there followed a 1982 attempt on his life, and in addition to the deaths, Hussein is alleged to have ordered the town's date palms destroyed and its soil poisoned.

Iraqi prosecutors say they're starting here because it's the most straightforward case they could make against the deposed ruler. After what they hope will be a conviction, they'll move on to bigger crimes - for which command and control for the former president may be harder to prove.

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