Someone else who didn't get their phone call

Muwaffaq al-Rubaiye, a member of Iraq's Governing Council, was promising on Monday that Saddam Hussein would be tried by Iraqis before the new Iraqi war crimes court "within weeks."

Less than 24 hours later came this:

Baghdad (Reuters, Dec. 16) - A new Iraqi war crimes court will not be ready to try Saddam Hussein for months and could let judges from other countries take part in the trial, one of the tribunal's architects said Tuesday. ...

Dara Nooraldin, an Iraqi judge and member of Iraq's U.S.-appointed Governing Council who helped draft the court's charter, said the court would not be ready to try anyone for months, and that any decision to execute Saddam would be in the hands of a transitional government set to be formed next year.

"The trials will not be conducted for some months, at the time when the judges and the court's administrative employees are appointed," he told Reuters.

Obviously, that is a direct slap at al-Rubaiye, rejecting him both on the composition and timing of the court. At about the same moment, the US announced

Saddam Hussein is likely to remain in U.S. military custody for at least six months....

The Bush administration assumes it will retain custody of Saddam until after it turns over sovereignty to a new Iraqi government next year, a process currently scheduled for June 2004.

Administration lawyers are urgently reviewing international laws, but officials do not believe the administration can legally turn the former Iraqi president over to the current Iraqi Governing Council (IGC), because it was created by the United States and is not a partner to the Geneva Conventions or other international treaties.

Along with Nooraldin's statement, this sudden and deeply touching concern for international law will also serve, I expect, as a quite effective reminder to al-Rubaiye just who is running this show.

And gosh gee whillikers anyway,

A U.S. official said Washington might bring its own charges against Saddam but many issues still had to be resolved, such as claims of nations he attacked - Iran, Kuwait and Israel.

And of course, all that darn negotiating and other governments and all that stuff, well that will take time, too, y'know. Darn it all.

So between the US holding him for extended questioning, the time to set up the court, and negotiations about other charges, how long might the opening of testimony be delayed? How does, oh, say, 11 months sound?