From the outset in postwar Iraq, criminal justice resembled deracinated constitutionalism: atomistic trials, radical purges, and compromised elections. Most egregious was the post-invasion rush to “de-Ba’athification,” which eviscerated many of the country’s existing institutions.
到目前为止，所有的迹象都表明这场审判不大会实现其宏大的目标。在战后的伊拉克，刑事审判从一开始就和其无源之水般的立宪相似：原子论般的审判，激进的肃清和妥协的选举。最令人惊愕的是在被占领之后急切的“非社会党化”，将许多现行制度都剔除一空。