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Written and sent to me by Robert Hessen Posted by Barbara Branden on 10/09/2004, 4:57pm | ||
In an exclusive interview with Dan Rather, scheduled to be shown this Sunday on "60 Minutes," Senator John Edwards will discuss his career plans if he and Senator John Kerry are not victorious on November 2. "I shall," Edwards tells Rather,"return to the practice of law, and I have chosen a high-profile case. I will represent His Excellency Saddam Hussein, the deposed president of Iraq, who now sits imprisoned after being illegally deposed, according to Kofi Annan, secretary- general of the United Nations. If the American attack on Iraq was illegal, and if we now know that Saddam Hussein did not possess a stockpile of WMD (weapons of mass destruction), then it follows logically that he should be restored to the presidency of Iraq. "The point is almost self-evident," Edwards avers, "but let me clinch it with an analogy: Say, for example, that a homeowner is accused of harboring an arsenal of dangerous weapons, and the Police raid his home and incarcerate him. Then, it turns out, no such weapons cache is found, though evidence is found that the man was torturing teenagers, obviously without their consent. Nonetheless, this discovery of a crime is the Fruit of the Poisonous Tree, and should be excluded from consid- eration. Likewise, the fact that Saddam Hussein allegedly murdered 350,000 of his political opponents, tolerated the rape of thousands of daughters by his henchmen in front of their fathers, used gas against the Kurds, and destroyed the habitat of the Marsh Arabs -- all this is, by law, excludable, because the proof -- not merely the rumors or allegations -- could not have been obtained without the illegal and unjustified invasion of Iraq. Con- sequently, just as the homeowner, wrongly accused of possessing a weapons stash, should be released and returned to his home, so too Saddam Hussein should -- and must -- be returned to power, and with God's help, I shall bring this to fruition. I have not even mentioned, Dan, that his so-called "wrongs" against his own people are really only an internal family squabble, and that the sovereignty of Iraq and its ruler surely trumps any other consideration. Otherwise, we embark on a slippery slope. If Iraq's sovereignty can be breeched, just because we do not like how its duly elected President conducts its domestic affairs, then no one's rights are safe anywhere. "I am so confident of victory in this case, Dan, that I shall be working on a Contingency Fee arrangement, receiving Kuwait as my compensation, as soon as Hussein's reconstituted Army is able to renew its seizure of Iraq's so-called "19th Province." And I am pleased to tell your viewers that John Kerry has agreed to serve as my co-counsel, taking a leave without pay from his arduous labors as a U.S. Senator." Dan Rather concluded the interview, talking directly to the camera: "I have not personally be able to authenticate that the person I have just interviewed is actually Senator John Edwards, the Democratic nominee for Vice-President, but I am satisfied that he has no doubts about his own identity, so that will have to suffice for now. Thank you, and Good Evening." | ||
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