Just a head's up: the Saddam verdict is expected tomorrow. No telling how or if it will be spun, but it should be on our radars as there has not been much anticipation of the event in the press, which may give the impression that the proceedings were an Iraqi affair as opposed to an American spectacle.
The second one is more tinfoily, but Haaretz reported last night that Areil Sharon's condition has worsened. Back a few months ago on one of those 'guess the October Surprise' diaries I made the prediction that this specific event, done like the Reagan funeral, would give a huge boost to the GOP and quite possibly the War on Terror, which, conincidently, we've been hearing more about Iran and Syria in the news in the past few days....
Some news snips below...
NyTimes: Hussein Sentence May Come on Sunday
BAGHDAD, Nov. 3 -- Nearly three years after being captured by American troops, Saddam Hussein faces the possibility of a death sentence on Sunday from the Iraqi court that has been trying him and seven others for the brutal repression of a Shiite town north of Baghdad in the 1980s.
Iraq's Defense Ministry, bracing for possible violence, announced Friday that it has canceled all military leave and placed the country's forces on heightened alert ahead of the verdicts on Mr. Hussein and the other defendants. "We are on alert for any possible emergency," said Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Shaker, the ministry's spokesman.
If the court imposes death sentences on Mr. Hussein and other defendants, including his half-brother, Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, Iraqi law provides that the sentences will be carried out by hanging. But because an appeal to the nine-judge appellate chamber of the trial court is automatic for death sentences, a delay of at least several months, and possibly as much as a year, is likely before any hangings would be carried out, according to Iraqi and American officials close to the case.
WaPo: Hussein Verdict Near After Trial With 'Serious Shortcomings'
The Americans serving as legal advisers for Saddam Hussein's trial likened it to the judgment at Nuremberg. But as the trial nears its conclusion, with announcement of a verdict scheduled for Sunday, they admit the reality turned out messier.
From the day the proceedings opened 12 1/2 months ago, spectacle attracted more attention than substance. Images of Hussein's co-defendants coming to court in their underwear and sitting with their backs to judges, and of Hussein himself shouting with his finger perpetually thrust in the air, stole the scene from the aging, downtrodden Iraqis testifying to wrongs done them by their country's former leader.
Ariel Sharon moved to intensive care as his condition worsens (same link from above)
Former prime minister Ariel Sharon, who suffered a stroke in January and has been in a coma since, was moved to an intensive care unit on Friday after a worsening in his condition, the hospital treating him said.
"Sharon contracted an infection that is affecting his heart and will receive intensive treatment to combat the infection," said a statement by the Sheba Medical Center, near Tel Aviv.
"At this point, his condition is stable," said Sheba spokesman David Weinberg.
Sharon, 78, had a first, small stroke in December and was put on blood thinners before experiencing a severe brain hemorrhage on January 4. After spending months in the Jerusalem hospital where he was initially treated, Sharon was transferred to the long-term care facility at Sheba in May.
He was rushed into intensive care in July for dialysis after his kidneys began failing, but was transferred back to the hospital's respiratory rehabilitation department after his condition improved.
Text of U.S. statement on Iran-Syria meddling in Lebanon
Support for a sovereign, democratic, and prosperous Lebanon is a key element of U.S. policy in the Middle East. We are therefore increasingly concerned by mounting evidence that the Syrian and Iranian governments, Hizballah, and their Lebanese allies are preparing plans to topple Lebanon's democratically-elected government led by Prime Minister Siniora.
Any attempt to destabilize Lebanon's democratically-elected government through such tactics as manufactured demonstrations and violence, or by physically threatening its leaders would, at the very least, be a clear violation of Lebanon's sovereignty and United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1559, 1680, and 1701.
There are indications that one goal of the Syrian plan is to prevent the current Lebanese government from approving the statute for an international tribunal that would try those accused of involvement in former Prime Minister Hariri's assassination. Any such effort to sideline the tribunal will fail, however, for the international community can proceed with establishing it no matter what happens internally in Lebanon. The United States is committed to working with its international partners and the legitimate Government of Lebanon to ensure that the tribunal is quickly established and that all those responsible for the assassinations of Rafiq Hariri and other Lebanese patriots since 2005 are brought to justice.