[Mazer]

Mr. Hussein demonstrated a formidable reluctance to acquiesce to the will or conventions of the tribunal, frequently erupting into tirades in court, issuing written denunciations of the tribunal as an American-orchestrated farce...

"We saw this trial, along with the others, as an opportunity to bring justice to those Iraqis who had suffered horribly under Baath Party rule," Richard Dicker, director of the international justice program at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement today. "Unfortunately, we believe the serious shortcomings in the fairness of the proceedings undermined the legitimacy and credibility of the trial."

Mr. Hussein’s chief defense counsel, Khalil al-Dulaimi, warned this week that if the former dictator were found guilty, “The doors of hell will open in Iraq, the sectarian divide in the country will deepen, and many more coffins will be sent back to America.”

The trial probably was a farce and a political charade and wholly unfair (just imagine what trials in America would be like if the defense attorneys made threats of violence like the one above), but Hussein is still getting what he deserves.