CNN, US media disregard condemnation of Saddam execution

CNN Exposed
Jan. 01, 2007

CNN.com's homepage exclaimed "DEATH OF A DICTATOR" in an increased 32 point font on Saturday (12/30/06) after Saddam Hussein was hanged. The accompanying article did not contain any condemnation from world leaders or legal experts, many of whom believed that Saddam's trial was flawed.

Islam Online, however, quoted EU President Erkki Tuomioja, who said the execution could "prove to be divisive for the future of Iraq especially since there has been serious criticism of the way the trial was conducted." And before sentencing began, former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark who aided Saddam's defense team called the trial a "travesty". Clark was thrown out of the courtroom after handing the presiding judge a note saying so, according to the BBC.

Correspondents at CNN, NPR, and other US news outlets seemed to ignore such criticism, and focused on the death as being the end of an era, while admitting it will have little overall affect on the worsening situation in Iraq.

NPR dealt with world criticism by inviting US law professor Michael Scharf onto "All Things Considered". Scharf, who helped train the Iraqi judges who tried Saddam, largely dismissed the world criticism, explaining that "the real story is more nuanced" and that the "trial actually did a credible job." The segment contained no input from any actual critic of the trial.

Meanwhile, CNN.com's piece did not have a criticism section, but did have a "Bush: Hussein received fair trial" section. "Fair trials were unimaginable under Saddam Hussein's tyrannical rule," according to a statement by Bush cited by CNN in this section.

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