Mike Thompson: “today's vote for prosecuting Saddam Hussein as a war criminal is important for at least two reasons. First, it…”

“today's vote for prosecuting Saddam Hussein as a war criminal is important for at least two reasons. First, it highlights again the outrageous and murderous actions Saddam Hussein has taken over the past seven years. Second, it injects new thinking into the U.S. approach toward Iraq--something that has been sorely lacking. Much commentary has been offered among the general public--and in this body--about the wisdom of the latest deal between U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and Saddam Hussein. Much of this commentary has focused on whether or not that agreement is a ``good'' one--one that will really curb Saddam. In my view, this question is misdirected. Almost certainly, the latest deal will do little but buy time. As long as Saddam possesses weapons of mass destruction, there's going to be another showdown somewhere down the road. So the real question becomes what we are going to do in the meantime to develop a comprehensive, long-term policy to protect our interests even as Saddam uses the time to further build up his arsenal and weaken international resolve. Trying Saddam for war crimes could be a step in that direction. There is little doubt in most American's minds that Saddam Hussein negotiated the latest agreement to his own advantage. His standard M-O is to agree to some set of conditions, set himself up in the court of world opinion as some sort of victim, and then violate the agreements when it's advantageous for him to do so.”