An audio tape purportedly made on June 14 by Saddam Hussein has surfaced on Al Jazeera in which "Saddam" claims he is alive in Iraq and fighting.

No confirmation was immediately available that the voice on the tape was indeed that of Saddam, who has not been seen in public since he and his government were ousted from power on April 9 during the U.S.-led war on Iraq.

The poor-quality recording, which sounded very much like Saddam, urged Iraqis to support resistance against the "infidel" U.S. presence and not to aid the occupiers. It also warned the Americans of more bloodshed to come.

The tape is 20 minutes long. Al Jazeera played ten minutes of it on tv. Here is the text of the tape.

Will Bush and Rumsfeld listen?

The European Commission urged the United States on Friday to avoid applying the death penalty to six foreign captives designated by President Bush to be tried before U.S. military commissions.

The 15-nation bloc is a fierce opponent of capital punishment and the EU's executive Commission said use of the death penalty could undermine international support for the so-called U.S.-led war on terrorism.

``The death sentence cannot be applied by military courts as this would make the international coalition lose the integrity and credibility it has so far enjoyed,'' said Commission spokesman Diego de Ojeda, recalling comments by External Relations chief Chris Patten.

Reuters reports here that two British citizens are among those targeted by Bush for military trial and possible execution.

Britain's Foreign Office said Moazzam Begg and Feroz Abbasi were among six prisoners at Camp X-ray in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, whom President Bush designated on Thursday for military trial.

....Human rights campaigners questioned whether they would receive a fair trial. "The U.S. Department of Defense will appoint the judges and prosecutors, control the defense and make up the rules of the trial," said Stephen Jakobi, Director of Fair Trials Abroad. "We have got to the point where the hallmarks of the Cuban exercise are those of a failed and cynical public relations stunt," he added.

The Mirror reports that pleas to Bush to eliminate the death penalty as an option for the British men have "fallen on deaf ears."

Is it just a coincidence that Bush makes this announcement on July 3, when Americans are embarking on a weekend long celebration of their independence and less attuned than usual to the news? No. This is the sneakiest and most secretive Administration in recent times, if not in history. We'd put nothing past them.

Retired General Wesley Clark was interviewed this week on his presidential aspirations. He's thinking hard about it, promising a decision by the end of the summer.

Clark would be "honored," he said, to be considered for the No. 2 spot, but right now he is pondering the presidency. "Those young kids who organized the draft movement, I have to give them an answer," he said.

We think Clark is a strong possibility for the VP slot. If he attaches himself to one declared candidate now, and that candidate doesn't get the Democratic nod, it might lessen his chances of being chosen by the winning candidate.

By launching his own presidential bid, he remains available to be chosen for the VP slot by any one of the others. So, we're leaning towards thinking Clark will announce his run for the Presidency.

This gets our vote for injustice of the day, but it's just noon. Keep in mind the man is in jail only for violating probation in a drug possession case:

A judge has denied a request from a drug offender dying of AIDS to be released early from jail to spend his last months with his family.
Jean Felix, 41, was sent to jail until Sept. 5 for violating probation in a drug possession case. But doctors say he will die in anywhere from a few days to two months.

The defendant's lawyer made the request at the suggestion of the jail. The prosecutor didn't oppose it.

If you live in Florida, remember this Broward Circuit Judge's name: Cheryl Aleman. This decision apparently is typical of her rulings:

Since joining the bench in January 2002, Aleman has been criticized twice by the Fourth District Court of Appeal for decisions in dependency cases in which the appellate court found she was too strict with her rulings.

Maybe a law student or other person with Lexis access will post some details of those prior rulings. If we get the time, we might as well. We're curious --are Florida judges elected? Do they face retention by election?

The Gainesville Sun has a series of articles on the Florida death penalty today. Here are the statistics, year by year. Here are the stats on current death row inmates. Here are the facts about Florida's death row.

Virginia Lazarerle is the only woman inmate on Florida's death row. She continues to proclaim her innocence.

In Stacking the Deck, the Gainesville Sun editorializes that if Florida insists on keeping the death penalty, it needs to make sure that defendants get adequate lawyers. Commenting on last week's Supreme Court decision granting a new trial to a death row inmate because of ineffective assistance of counsel, the paper writes:

The court's ruling is an important one in that it will oblige lower courts to give more scrutiny to the quality of a death row inmate's defense. "We know that the death penalty is generally not reserved for the prisoners who commit the worst crimes, but rather for those with the worst lawyers," says Bonowitz. "Maybe this ruling will change that a little bit."

Hopefully, it will also prompt Gov. Jeb Bush to reconsider his "cost-saving" plan to begin firing the state-employed lawyers who now handle capital appeals in favor of turning that work over to private attorneys. Death penalty cases are complicated matters that require considerable expertise and experience. The notion of subcontracting that work out in piecemeal fashion to private lawyers who may or may not specialize in death penalty case law is truly penny wise-pound foolish public policy.

John Kerry on medical marijauna Tuesday night :

After the opening of his New Hampshire campaign headquarters last night, U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) told medical marijuana advocate Linda Macia, who suffers from nerve damage, fibromyalgia, reflex sympathetic dystrophy, and degenerative arthritis, that he favors legal access to medical marijuana for seriously ill patients and a study to determine appropriate federal policy.

That makes two of the Democratic contenders (Kucinich is the other) who support medical marijuana. On the other side....

Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who worked to kill a medical marijuana bill in Vermont last year, has said he favors an FDA study but has refused to protect patients from arrest. In May, U.S. Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) told the San Francisco Chronicle he has no objection to the Justice Department's arresting patients. U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) and U.S. Rep. Richard Gephardt (D-MO) have previously supported legislation condemning state medical marijuana laws. The rest of the Democratic field has yet to take a position.

President Bush has designated six prisoners for possible trial by military tribunal.

Unlike traditional criminal trials, the proceedings of military tribunals can be kept much more secret. The United States has not convened such a tribunal since World War II. The prospect of secret trials drew criticism from the chairman of the American Bar Association's task force on the treatment of detainees in the war on terrorism.

"The State Department issues a report every year in which it criticizes those nations that conduct trials before secret military tribunals," said Neal Sonnett, also a former president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. "What I'm hearing sounds alarmingly like something similar."

"If they're going to be charged by military tribunals then they have a right to full due process and the public has a right to know who's being tried and what the charges are and the government has an obligation to run these tribunals in a fair and transparent way."

Bush won't identify the six. It's possible they could go to trial and be convicted without anyone knowing who they are. The Defense Department will only say they are all in U.S. custody.

"It's a Draconian system of justice that is almost guaranteed to get convictions, including a possible death penalty," Michael Ratner of the Center for Constitutional Rights said Thursday.

Update: Don't miss Patrick Nielsen Hayden of Electrolite on the decison.

Law Professor Eugene Volokh, of the very popular Volokh Conspiracy, fills in for vacationing Glenn Reynolds on Glenn's MSNBC weblog, devoting an entire column to his opposition to the Victim's Rights Amendment. Volokh says he is generally a Republican law and order type, but this Amendment is wrong.

We agree entirely, for the same reasons, and more.

Kudos to Denver officials for rejecting a proposed restaurant smoking ban. Colorado has the lowest obesity rate in the country. It is filled with "physically fit, health-conscious hikers and bikers."

So why the objection to smoking which is definitely an unhealthy habit?

''Western individualism is often a strength in this region,'' said Daniel Kemmis, director of the Center for the Rocky Mountain West at the University of Montana and a former Missoula, Mont., mayor. ''I'd be surprised if any interior Western state would pass a statewide smoking ban.''

Enough already with governmental regulation of our bodies. And with feel-good plans that will further hurt the economy by driving people out of major cities forcing bars and restaurants to lay people off or close.

Opponents of a ban say the measure would have sent smokers to the suburbs and is the last thing Denver's struggling economy needs. The city is facing a $50 million budget deficit and expects to lay off scores of workers.

''There's a lot of people who are on the edge and we don't want to push these people over the edge and out of business,'' said Cindy Weindling of the Colorado Restaurant Association.

June's unemployment rate was the highest in nine years--6.4%. Unemployment rose by 913,000 in the past three months alone. The private sector, which includes bars and restaurants, has been especially hard hit. Smoking bans just add to the problem.

Lawyers for the accused sniper suspect John Muhammad have sued in federal court to postpone publication of a former police chief's book about the case:

In a request filed in federal court, attorney Thomas Mann said Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose has ''strategically planned the launch of his book just prior to Muhammad's trial in an attempt to obtain as much money as possible from the results of his official investigation.''

''Muhammad will suffer irreparable harm in the nature of ... a feeding frenzy conjured by Moose through press tours, television interviews and other publicity-oriented endeavors,'' the attorney said.

The book is scheduled to be released September 15, and Muhammad's trial begins in October. Controversy has dogged this book since the beginning. It is unfathomable to us that a law enforcement officer would try to profit off an accused before trial. We will not mention the title of the book in protest. We refuse to even inadvertantly cause anyone to buy it.

Moose signed a book deal in January with publisher E.P. Dutton for a reported $170,000 advance. The county ethics commission later forbade him to write the book, saying that he would be misusing his office for profit and that he might be tempted to disclose confidential information. Moose resigned on June 28, saying he was forced to choose between his job and the book.

Good riddance.

Daily Kos' Cattle Call is up. Interesting to see we agree on the candidates moving up: Dean, Kerry, Edwards and even Kucinich--as well as those going south. We also agree with his views on Wesley Clark. As to Joe Biden, we say, forget about it. Al Sharpton would beat him. We're not forgetting or forgiving the (formerly named) Rave Act tacked on at the last minute to the Amber Alert bill --and that's for starters. Not to mention that he's also part of the "old boy" network, like Lieberman and Gephardt. We don't want him as a VP either.

We want someone with refreshing, new ideas and a passion for civil rights and individual liberties -- and for ending miscarriages of justice. We're not quite sure who that is yet--it appears to be an evolving process. Particularly since our ideals have to be blended into the bottom line, best summed up as "You can't always get what you want" (Rolling Stones) and "Anyone But Bush in 2004.

The U.S. is now offering a $25 million reward for capturing Saddam --or for information proving he's dead. His sons are worth $15 million.

In other war related news, one day after Bush's "Bring 'em on" comments, it appears Iraq has done just that. 8 more soldiers were injured in blasts today.

An Army truck hit an explosive west of Baghdad on Thursday injuring six U.S. soldiers, and assailants in the capital wounded two other American soldiers in separate attacks, U.S. military officials and witnesses said. The violence comes a day after President Bush vowed that anti-U.S. attacks would not keep the United States from fulfilling its mission in Iraq.

[links via What Really Happened]