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Vatican Raps U.S. Over Humiliating Saddam Images
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Martino
said Saddam’s capture would not "repair all the drama and
damage caused by a conflict that remains a defeat for
humanity"
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VATICAN
CITY, December 16 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The
president of the Vatican Justice and Peace Commission lambasted
Tuesday, December 16, U.S. occupation authority in Iraq for showing
humiliating pictures of ousted president Saddam Hussein.
"I
personally felt sorry to see this broken man treated like a cow as
they checked his teeth," said Cardinal Renato Martino as he
presented Pope John Paul II's message for the World Day of Peace,
reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"We
should have been spared these images," he said, in reference to a
video clip played by the U.S. army Sunday, December 14,
showing a disheveled and bearded Saddam being poked and prodded during
medical checks.
The
American military announced Saddam was captured a day earlier during a
military operation near his hometown of Tikrit a day earlier.
"In
seeing this man in his such tragic circumstances, I felt pity and I
hope that others felt it too," said the 71-year-old cardinal, who
served for years as head of the Vatican's diplomatic mission to the
U.N.
In
clear criticism of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Martino said it
would be "illusory" to think Saddam’s capture would
"repair all the drama and damage caused by a conflict that
remains a defeat for humanity."
During
the Iraq invasion, U.S. senior officials, topped by President George
Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld criticized the Iraqis and
Arab news channels for showing
U.S. war prisoners on TV, calling it a war crime and
threatening to hold Iraqi officials accountable.
Martino
also hoped Saddam's trial would "contribute to the pacification
and democratization of Iraq," asserting it must be conducted in
"an appropriate place."
The
issue has sparked a controversy with some saying he should stand an
Iraqi trial under Arab-International supervision to guarantee a
fair trail.
Former
U.S. Attorney General Ramsy
Clarke expressed readiness Sunday, December 14, to act as
defense lawyer for Saddam.
Law
Of Force
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Pope
Paul said countries should resist the "temptation to appeal
to the law of force rather than to the force of law."
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In
another development, Pope Paul criticized the U.S.
unilateral invasion of Iraq without a mandate from the United Nations.
"International
law must ensure that the law of the more powerful does not
prevail," said the pontiff, appealing for the replacement of
"the material force of arms with moral force of law."
In
reference to the so-called war on terror, the pope said governments
must avoid the "temptation to appeal to the law of force rather
than to the force of law."
"Democratic
governments know well that the use of force against terrorists cannot
justify a renunciation of the principles of the rule of law," he
said.
The
pontiff also underlined that the "fight against terrorism cannot
be limited solely to repressive and punitive operations."
The
use of force had to be "accompanied by a courageous and lucid
analysis of the reasons behind terrorist attacks," he said.
"The
scourge of terrorism has become more virulent in recent years and has
produced brutal massacres which have in turn put even greater
obstacles in the way of dialogue and negotiation, increasing tensions
and aggravating problems, especially in the Middle East," Pope
Paul averred.
He
underlined the necessity of "eliminating the underlying causes of
situations of injustice which frequently drive people to more
desperate and violent acts."
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