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Department of Justice during and after the trial.
Saddam hussein capture a lie trial#
But, in contrast to their hopes, the first trial before the Iraqi High Tribunal was one of the most chaotic in world history, and it certainly failed in the short term to serve as the unifying focal point for a revitalized Iraqi civil society."Īt Vanderbilt, Professor Newton quickly put students in his first International Law Practice Lab to work analyzing issues encountered by the Iraqis and the U.S. "They hoped to demonstrate a model of due process grounded in the most modern human rights principles. "Iraqi judges claimed that 'Saddam was the real occupier of Iraq' because his regime had displaced the rule of law," Newton recalls.
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Professor Newton had spent the previous year and a half advising Iraqi judges as they prepared for trials of those who had oppressed Iraq. Iraqi politicians had begun the effort to create a specialized court to prosecute leading Baathists in December 2003, while Saddam was still on the run from coalition authorities. That pistol in its case is now displayed in the Bush Presidential Library in Dallas.When Mike Newton joined the faculty of Vanderbilt Law School in 2005, he was in the midst of a difficult assignment as an advisor to the Iraqi High Tribunal. It stayed in his White House office until he was succeeded by Barak Obama. The pistol was taken to Washington and presented to President George Bush. That pistol was put in a case, and we all signed the back of it. One member of our group found it and turned it in. Morton told the group, “Hussein was carrying a pistol tucked into his waist. He was taken back to his palace in Tikrit for questioning. Hussein was captured on December 13, 2003. Morton said, “I looked at him in that moment and said, ‘it’s him!’” A couple of our guys grabbed him and pulled him out of the hole.” An interpreter screamed ‘come out’ then someone moved forward. There was a hole, but we could not see Hussein. He described what happened, “We popped the lid. “We dug in the flower bed and handles popped up,” said Morton. Morton said, “Once we got there the description given by the source did not match the location, so he was asked ‘Where is the bunker?’ and the source indicated under a flower bed.” Morton described the events leading to the capture, including the assembly of the team, getting the search authorized, and taking the source with them to show the exact location where Hussein was supposed to be hiding. Morton said, “Through an interpreter we asked him ‘Where is he” and he quickly flipped and told them Hussein was in one of two locations. It was known that Mohammad was a close associate. Morton said a source of information named Mohammad was questioned or Hussein’s location. That he was pulled from a small underground bunker.
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He noted that Hussein was taken without a shot being fired. He described his Army career and the capture to the Rotary Club in great detail. Retired Sergeant Major Jeremy Morton was a member of the team that captured Hussein. He had fled to the farm after his government was toppled by US and allied forces in 2003. They captured Saddam Hussein hiding in a small underground bunker on his family farm near Tikrit, Iraq. Members and visitors to the Mansfield Rotary Club meeting on Wednesday heard from a member of Delta Force.