esrosedotblog

NOT SO MUCH

I have been figuring that the sentencing of Saddam Hussein was another of those stage managed November surprise things that the bushies are so good at. It is set for two days before the mid-term election.

But maybe I was wrong. If it does happen on schedule, it might actually be a setback for them. Here from the WSJ afternoon report: (the bolds are mine)

November Surprise?
By PHIL IZZO
Saddam Hussein has been complicating George W. Bush's presidency since its earliest days, so it's no surprise that even in detention the former Iraqi leader continues to make the president's life difficult.

Mr. Hussein's genocide trial, a sometimes tragic circus that hasn't exactly achieved the jurisprudence the White House would hope for in Iraq's budding democracy, continued today when chief defense attorney Khalil al-Dulaimi, having just ended a monthlong boycott, walked out again after a series of defense requests were rejected. The lead judge immediately appointed other attorneys to defend the deposed president.

Of more immediate concern to the U.S., however, is a separate Hussein trial, that concerning his role in a crackdown on a Shiite Muslim village in the 1980s. A verdict in the case is expected on Sunday, just two days before the U.S. midterm elections. The U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, denied speculation that the timing of the verdict was set to coincide with elections. With a death sentence probable, highlighting a key American success in the war could conceivably give a much-needed boost to Republicans fighting to retain control of Congress amid dissatisfaction with the conflict in Iraq. However, a death sentence for Mr. Hussein may not be the boon the Bush administration was expecting both at home and in Iraq. Mr. Hussein's chief lawyer, Khalil al-Dulaimi, warned Sunday of worsening violence in Iraq and chaos across the Mideast if the ex-president is sentenced to be hanged. Indeed, many fear that such a verdict could inflame already elevated sectarian tensions, with Sunnis seeing it as another example of Shiite and Kurdish domination.

A possible upswing in sectarian violence, which claimed at least 33 more lives today in a Shiite slum, could turn the U.S. public further against the Iraq war. October is already the fourth deadliest month for Americans since the war began, with the 100th servicemember death marked today. Already on the defensive over the war, the last thing Republican candidates need two days before an election is a major reminder of the difficulties the U.S. faces in Iraq.