Arlen Specter: “Herein, there is a very ample statement for the basis for trying Saddam Hussein and trying him successfully as a war…”

“Herein, there is a very ample statement for the basis for trying Saddam Hussein and trying him successfully as a war criminal. In doing that, we would be following the precedent of trying former Yugoslavian President Milosevic as a war criminal. I have made some seven visits to The Hague and have participated in marshaling U.S. resources from the Department of Justice, also specifically from the FBI, also from the CIA during the 104th Congress back in 1995 and 1996, when I was chairman of the Intelligence Committee; and we now see the head of state, Slobodan Milosevic, on trial. We had the experience of the war crimes tribunal in Rwanda, which achieved an international precedent in convicting former Prime Minister Jean Kambanda of Rwanda, the first head of state to be convicted. He is now serving a life sentence. So it is my suggestion that the objective of regime change can be accomplished in accordance with existing international standards, on a multilateral basis, without having other nations in the world saying the superpower United States is trying to throw its weight around. It might take a little longer, but as is evidenced from the proceedings in Rwanda as to the former Prime Minister of Rwanda, and as evidenced from the proceedings of Milosevic, that is an ordinary successful progress of the law.”