Saddam: Killings Were Justified

In Cross-Examination, Says He Approved Killings Based On Evidence

(CBS/AP) 
But Dozier adds there is a chance Saddam may never face the genocide charges because he may end up being executed for the alleged crimes in Dujail first. But his victims say they'll take comfort in whatever punishment he gets.

In the current trial, Saddam and seven other former members of his regime face possible execution by hanging if convicted of a crackdown on Shiites launched after a 1982 assassination attempt against Saddam in the town of Dujail. In the sweep that followed, 148 Shiites were killed and hundreds were imprisoned. Many say they were tortured.

After a six-hour session, the trial adjourned until Thursday. Prosecutors appeared to have finished questioning Saddam.

Chief Prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi asked Saddam about his approval of the death sentences handed down by his Revolutionary Court, which prosecutors have argued gave the Shiites only a cursory trial.

"That is one of the duties of the president," Saddam replied. "I had the right to question the judgment. But I was convinced the evidence that was presented was sufficient" to show their guilt.

Asked if he had read the evidence against the 148 suspects before referring them for trial, Saddam replied, "If the constitution requires the head of state to review documents before referral, then I abided by it."

"At the time this crime was committed against the head of state, Saddam Hussein, we were in a state of war," Saddam said Wednesday, referring to the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.

"Don't you know that now children and women are being killed?" Saddam asked, apparently trying to shift attention to the country's current violence. "Now, the bodies are being thrown on the street as if they were dogs....An Iraqi is not a dog."

Al-Moussawi asked Saddam if he was aware that 28 of the Shiites sentenced to death were under 18 and presented identity cards showing some were minors. Prosecutors have said an 11-year-old boy was among those killed.

"I sentence an underage Iraqi to death? I wouldn't do it even if you were to carve my eyes out," Saddam said.

He added that identity cards can easily be forged. "I could get a hold of an ID saying Mr. Raouf is 25 years old," he added, waving toward the judge.

During the questioning, Saddam cooperated with the court at times, grinning at the chief prosecutor and reciting poetry to the judge, whom he casually addressed by his first name as "Mr. Raouf."

But at times, his relaxed demeanor gave way to a more condescending and irritable side.

He snapped at Abdel-Rahman when the judge tried to stop Saddam from talking politics. "You were convicted during my time and I pardoned you. What could have brought you here if it weren't for politics?" Saddam told the judge.

Defense lawyers have claimed Abdel-Rahman, a Kurd, was convicted in absentia during Saddam's era for activity with opposition Kurds. Abdel-Rahman has denied that.

Al-Moussawi displayed documents, including some approving medals for intelligence agents involved in the crackdown and authorizing the razing of Dujail farmlands. Al-Moussawi repeatedly asked if the signatures on the documents were Saddam's.

Saddam avoided a direct reply, refusing to confirm the signatures but stopping short of saying they were forged.

The prosecutors also showed a video they said was taken in the 1980s that showed Saddam talking about "enemies of the revolution," and asserting: "I would chop off their heads without one hair of mine shaking ... As for the ranks of the enemies, if someone died during investigations, he has no value."

Pressed by the judge, the prosecutor acknowledged the tape was not directly connected to the Dujail case but insisted it was relevant.