All a matter of perspective, I guess

Saddam Hussein speaks his mind and it all becomes clear.

Dec 06 12:36 PM US/Eastern

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Saddam Hussein shouted Tuesday that he will not return "to an unjust court" when it convenes for the fifth session of his trial Wednesday. As the end of the session, when the judges decided to hold a session Wednesday, Saddam suddenly shouted: "I will not return. I will not come to an unjust court! Go to hell!" Saddam also complained that he had no fresh clothes and had been deprived of shower and exercise facilities. "This is terrorism," he said.

Ah, so this probably explains why all those protestors are calling President Bush a terrorist. After all, think of all the people who can't have a shower or work out because of him!

"At the intelligence headquarters, they put two clips in my ears," the witness said, adding that he was told that if he lied, he would be given an electric shock. When he answered a question, the shock was administered, he said.

That prompted an outburst from Saddam, who complained of his own conditions in detention. He said the court had time to listen to the witnesses' complaints "but does anyone ask Saddam Hussein whether he was tortured? Whether he was hit?"

He urged the judge to investigate his conditions because "it is your duty as judges to investigate the crime at its scene."

"I live in an iron cage covered by a tent under American democratic rule. You are supposed to come see my cage," he told Amin. "Please, Mr. Judge, do not accept any insult to Iraq. It doesn't matter if he insults Saddam Hussein, because the Americans and the Zionists want to execute Saddam Hussein. What does the execution of Saddam Hussein matter? He has given himself to Iraq from the day he was at school and has been sentenced to death three times already. Saddam Hussein and his comrades are not afraid of execution."

Yeah, living in a cage, access to an attorney, well fed, but losing access to your shower and exercise equipment (which means he's had them for some time), compared to electric shocks. I get the comparison right away.

When you look at what he's complaining about, it's easy to see him as a megalomaniac. He's so far removed from reality that he sees the removal of his own luxuries as a greater offense than the torture and killing of hundreds of other people. Add in the way he refers to himself in third person ("He has given himself to Iraq from the day he was at school..."), and his contempt of court, and I don't see how he hopes to win this. I suspect the end is obvious, and he is doing everything he can to appear as a martyr for a just cause, so that his people can continue the fight when he is gone. Like the insurgents, he is providing fodder for the sympathetic left and the mainstream media.

[via AP and Breit Bart]