Downtown Rotary
Heidi Doerhoff Vollet
Judge William Ray Price of the Missouri Supreme Court discussed his recent trip to Iraq and impressions of its justice system and attitude toward Americans with members of the Jefferson City Rotary Club at its meeting September 19.
"Americans are conquerors in a conquered nation," he said. "But the Kurds love Americans because we killed Saddam Hussein, and he was killing Kurds" on a systematic basis. Judge Price met with judges, lawyers and other members of the judicial system in areas that were predominantly Kurdish, predominantly Arab and a 50/50 mixture of the two.
Judge Price was among a group of Americans housed in military bases and safe zones in certain communities. Travel was by military aircraft between cities and in heavily armored convoys within cities; roads to be used by the convoys were patrolled by American military units.
Issues the Iraqi judicial system faces, he said, include institutional corruption (the government controls the judiciary, so the government almost always wins), tribal law that trumps civil law, and strict controls that limit citizens' ability to push back against the government. Those issues are complicated by tribal differences and cultural and religious differences among Kurds and Shia and Sunni Muslims.
"The bottom line is that these people can't get along," Judge Price said. "We've spent a lot of money there and it's a very delicate situation. Our diplomatic staff includes agricultural and economic experts who are making progress with the local citizens, but if we leave now, this place will be torn apart by civil disputes among tribal and religious groups."
