Shiite Bloc in Iraq Wouldn't Fight Execution of Hussein
Kurdish President Opposes Death Penalty
By Ellen Knickmeyer
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, April 19, 2005; Page A16

BAGHDAD, April 18 -- The Shiite Muslim bloc leading Iraq's new government will oppose any move to spare former president Saddam Hussein's life if a special tribunal convicts and condemns him, a spokesman for the alliance said Monday.

"We will deal with it immediately," said Ali Dabbagh, spokesman for the Shiite-led United Iraqi Alliance. That group is now forming a government with a Kurdish alliance following the first post-Hussein elections in January. Dabbagh said the next courtroom activity in Hussein's trial is tentatively expected in July, with the trial itself to begin before the end of the year.

"Oppose any move to spare" is not just a hell of a lot more active than "wouldn't fight execution." It assumes execution on conviction.

"I said my word, but no one is listening to me, to be frank with you," Talabani told the BBC. "My two partners in the presidency, the government, the House, all of them are for sentencing Saddam Hussein to death before the court will decide."

Since the Iraqis are perfectly fine with stating their intent, why the weasel-wording of the article?