Dallas Morning News: Saddam Hussein's trial has adjourned for two weeks, postponed until after Iraqis vote in their most important election ever, the one on Thursday that will elect a permanent

Dallas Morning News: Saddam Hussein's trial has adjourned for two weeks, postponed until after Iraqis vote in their most important election ever, the one on Thursday that will elect a permanent government.
The trial certainly will influence how Iraq begins to govern itself. A fair hearing for the dictator will allow the country to deepen its emerging democracy.
If legal procedures fail to triumph over personal passions, Saddam's loyalists will turn their fellow Baathist into a martyr.
A top Saddam lawyer, former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, made that point the other day to The New York Times. Without a decent hearing, Clark told The Times, "historical truth will be distorted."
Saddam deserves no favors
We respect why Clark feels even Saddam Hussein deserves his day in court. And we understand why our fellow Texan advocates for a proper review of the facts.
But please spare us the "give-Saddam-a-break" tactic. In his Times interview, Clark likened the workings of Saddam's secret police to those of the U.S. Secret Service. "Just look at how our Secret Service works," he claimed. "I've been knocked down several times when they see some kind of threat."
And about the slayings and brutality Saddam is on trial for ordering after assassins tried to slay him in 1982?
"He was the president of the country, he was in a war, he was a pretty busy guy," his lawyer responded. "I can see this as a case of some of his juniors overreacting."
Saddam: Demon or not?
Clark even told CNN on Tuesday that the world had demonized Saddam Hussein.
Demonized? Give us a break. Try that line on the families who lost relatives to savage slayings. See what they say about him being a victim.
Clark would do well to stick to his fair-trial theme. His attempt to get us to know the inner Saddam will give civil liberties a bad name.