Saddam Hussein captured

[Mistwalker]

This isn't connected with atheism, and likely everyone knows already, but I'll post it anyway:

BAGHDAD, Iraq--Saddam Hussein, the deposed Iraqi leader, was captured in a raid on a farm house near Tikrit on Saturday night, American military officials confirmed Sunday.

The officials said they had used DNA tests to confirm his identity.

"We got him," American administrator L. Paul Bremer III said at a news conference here.

Coalition troops discovered Hussein hiding in a hole below the farm house, located in the town of Adwar, 10 miles from Tikrit.

Military officials said that Hussein had put up no resistance and that not one shot had been fired in the operation.

For more: news.com.com/2100-1028_3-5122948.html

[AuntieSocial]

Thanks, Mistwalker. I heard the news this morning ... as I was climbing out of bed, the spousal unit came in to tell me the news.

Officials said Hussein was being held at an undisclosed location and that American authorities had yet to decide whether to hand him over to the Iraqis for trial. Iraqi officials want him to stand trial before a war crimes tribunal created last week.

I wonder what else they have in mind for him ... other than turning him over for trial. Sorry, I have a huge mistrust for a military that thinks they are above the law (and in some sense are above the law, since the U.S.A. is not subject to The Hague.)

But an initial burst of confidence gradually faded away and, as the bloody weeks dragged on, and American troops were unable to find either Hussein or conclusive proof that he had been developing weapons of mass destruction, the White House and the Pentagon tried to shift attention from those failures by arguing that the most important thing was that Hussein had been removed from power.

And who will try those who used false intelligence and lied to the people of the world to garner support for the invasion of Iraq?

[nonny]

AuntieSocial said:

And who will try those who used false intelligence and lied to the people of the world to garner support for the invasion of Iraq?

There was no "false intellgence" so nothing will happen, the intellegnce came form 3 different sources, and was the same intellgence that Clinton used to bomb an asprin factory. We have already found weapons.

[Yaw]

I basically agree with AuntieSocial, with some elucidations.

First of all, in terms of the Iraqi resistance this capture is meaningless. I think the circumstances (Saddam hiding under a farm house in the middle of nowhere) pretty much support what most of us have concluded already -- the Iraqi resistance to American occupation is not organized by Hussein. Let's face it, when the American plan can be explained by Lt. Colonel Nathan Sassaman as, "With a healthy dose of fear and violence, and a lot of money for projects, I think we can convince these people that we are here to help them," a lack of continued armed resistance would be more surprising.

That aside, of course Hussein was a brutal leader who committed violence against his own people. Those of us who were against this war were aware of that, and never condoned his actions. If justice were to be served, he would be tried by the International Criminal Court. The problem with that (besides the fact that the American government spurned the ICC) is that there are members of the current administration who have a vested interest in seeing Hussein done away with quickly and quietly. It would be politically devastating to Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld (among others) to allow Hussein a fair trial, because it is certain that they would be implicated for aiding and abetting him in his atrocities during the 1980's. The real question is how the American government will do away with Saddam while giving the appearance that justice is served. Those of us who care about justice should be adamant that nothing less than a trial by the ICC or an independent, competent Iraqi court will do.

nonbeliever

There was no "false intellgence" so nothing will happen, the intellegnce came form 3 different sources, and was the same intellgence that Clinton used to bomb an asprin factory.

There was a very blatant example of manufactured evidence in the forged document that appeared in a State of the Union address, claiming that Hussein had tried to buy enriched uranium from Niger. In reality, the Nigeran official who supposedly signed the document hadn't been in the Nigeran government for a decade! Moreover, the UN weapons inspectors went on the record as saying that the information that the US was providing them with respect to weapons of mass destruction was useless; that is, they had no success in finding anything whenever they used American intelligence.

nonbeliever

We have already found weapons.

Everything I've read has indicated that the only "weapons" found had already been found by the weapons inspectors. That is, they were either allowed under the sanctions, or defunct. Unless you have another source you would like to quote?

[AuntieSocial]

A friend of mine had an interesting perspective on this ... he thinks this will be the nail in Bush's coffin ... Saddam was taken alive.

The world will want to hear what Saddam has to say. If he is given a fair trial, there will undoubtedly be some damning testimony about Bush Sr, Ashcroft & others ... concerning their involvement in past war atrocities.

[Hilly]

Yaw said:

First of all, in terms of the Iraqi resistance this capture is meaningless. I think the circumstances (Saddam hiding under a farm house in the middle of nowhere) pretty much support what most of us have concluded already -- the Iraqi resistance to American occupation is not organized by Hussein.

I agree that it would seem that Hussein was not orchestrating the resistance, but I think (and hope) his capture may have a demoralizing effect on the resistance. Those Iraqi citizens who opposed Hussein may now be more vocal and active in terms of helping the coalition now that the threat of Hussein returning has been eliminated.

[Hilly]

AuntieSocial said:

A friend of mine had an interesting perspective on this ... he thinks this will be the nail in Bush's coffin ... Saddam was taken alive.

The world will want to hear what Saddam has to say. If he is given a fair trial, there will undoubtedly be some damning testimony about Bush Sr, Ashcroft & others ... concerning their involvement in past war atrocities.

How would Husseins testimony be any different now. Has`nt he always had the opportunity to speak to the world? I will say this however it was chilling to see Rumsfeld shaking his hand at a meeting the two had some time ago when the USA were still somewhat allied with Iraq.