Got Him

Entergy decided to cut the power off here for a couple of hours, so I'm just getting to look at some of the rebroadcasts of the press conferences. Haven't yet heard Dubya's speech, but I'll try to offer some opinion based on what I've managed to read thus far.

I commented over at CrawlingWestward that I was surprised they got him alive. Given the violent end of his two sons, I was under the impression that he'd likewise fight to the death. I'm also glad he's alive and presumably going to trial--this could bring a small sense of justice to those who suffered under his reign.

The hiding place, in my opinion, is evidence that his role in the insurgency is limited. The type of hit-and-run attacks the US Military has been subject to cannot be planned from a spider-hole. I'm guessing, given the limited amount of evidence the military has shared thus far, that he did not have a large number of hiding places, but instead, mainly hid out of sight for the most part, living off his trunk full of $100 bills, with a limited coeterie of guards--indeed, there were only two other individuals captured in the raid.

Far more interesting to me at this point is the C-Span call-in, which has separate lines for support and opposition to the war. Once again, the callers confirm to me that myth is far more important to people than facts. Pro war individuals continue to propagate the myth that Hussein was intimately involved with Osama bin Laden, that Saddam Hussein was behind the September 11th tragedy, and that we are fighting for the Iraqi people, and, somehow, for our own freedom. At least some anti-war callers are reviving the myth that it wasn't Saddam captured, but one of his "doubles," to which I would say that the whole doppelganger myth was merely another lie brought to you courtesy of the government, conveniently abandoned when it no longer served its purpose. The WMD myth is now being once again brought to the fore as well--some are expressing the opinion that we'll finally find them now, which is a complete joke. Riverbend, in an email she sent to me a while back, expressed the opinion that the US knew there were no such weapons, and the invasion would not have occurred had there been such weapons. I'm inclined to agree.

So now we've got him. My guess is that there will be a very public trial at some point, although the time and place are open to speculation. As long as Iraq is in a chaotic situation, Saddam will presumably be detained at a highly secured US facility. There will be no trial until civil order is restored, and there is no sign that this will happen anytime soon. Meanwhile, terrorism is still a very real threat, and our adventure in Iraq is still a diversion from this. Saddam, for all his brutality, is not the threat--fundamentalism is the problem, and our invasion will not change this.

Still, I think we can gear up for an extended-play version of the two-minute-hate. Video of Saddam will be prominently displayed, over which we can vent our anger and rage. In Iraq, indeed, there have been celebrations, complete with the usual cloud-shooting by this heavily armed society, but I don't think anyone believes that this will end the insurgency. As for the long-term situation--if I was the betting type, I'd still be laying money on an Iraqi civil war, as soon as the US troop committment drops below a certain critical level.

Now that my electricity is back up, I'm going to watch some television, and read some websites--will probably have something to post a little later.