My moral compass, Britain's The Economist magazine, yesterday applauded the conviction, particularly as it was not a victor's show trial: all participants were Iraqi, although some of the prosecutors were trained by Americans and the trial itself was funded by the US.
On the other hand it pointed out that one fo Saddam's lawyers had his brothers murdered: one judge stood down for being a former Ba'athist, and another judge refused to refer to Saddam as a "dictator". It commented that such thigns were to be expected in a "transitional justice system."
Given the problems with the trial, I would have preferred for him to get life. in any event, the mandate fo the court requires the death penalty be automatically appealed, so we shall see what happens.
