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Hussein Forced into Court Despite Hunger Strike

It seems that the hunger strike that Saddam Hussein announced and held himself to due to the killing of several of his lawyers isn?t keeping the United States or the Iraqi government from force-feeding him and bringing him to his trial. As Hussein was brought into his trial on Wednesday, he called out ?I was brought against my will directly from the hospital. The Americans insisted that I come against my will. This is not fair.? Hussein, a Sunni Muslim, brutally oppressed the Shiite majority of Iraq during his years in power, and many of his lawyers have been assassinated likely as reprisals.

Hussein also still insists that he is the President of Iraq, despite having been found in a hole by American troops several months after being deposed as dictator of the country. His trial in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad has been something of a farce at times, with Hussein often refusing to show up or yelling out frequently.

Iraq is struggling to deal with an ongoing insurgency that has seen Sunni vs. Shiite Muslim violence, with mosques often being the target of terrorists. As will sometimes happen, Sunnis or Shiites will set up ?road blocks? and pull those of a certain kind of name out of their cars and execute them. In addition to the sectarian violence, Iraqi police stations and foreign missions have often come under heavy terrorist attacks. The death toll for U.S. troops in Iraq, since the end of major combat operations was declared several years ago, is approaching 3,000 dead.