US forces capture Saddam near Tikrit

[nael]

wow, just when things were looking bleak over there, we actually got him...

[nael]

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/...ain/index.html

[Xandax]

Heh - thought it was some attempt at a humorous thread - looks to be real (hope it is also, but that is another thingy).

But waiting for confimation on more newssources first .... but looks promising.

Still think that Iraq will cost many more lives still though - maybe even more now. BUt we can hope that the situations improves down there now.

(EDIT: Seen it on several news sources now ....)

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

Looks like ol' Saddam couldn't dig his way out of things this time. The 'Ace of Spades' in the Iraqi playing card deck (a birthday present I got last Monday-very cool) has just been found hidden in a hole in 'Operation Red dawn', carried out by US forces 8pm last night (Iraq time).
Unsurprisingly, footage from his capture and subsequent identification is being played across the news (Geneva convention be damned, comments during the war aside), and he certainly looks the part. The large beard he was sporting prior to being shaved rules out it being his female body double, at any rate. Naturally the (official) goal of the war has now been retrospectively changed from finding WMDs to getting Saddam.

Though it slightly detracts from my enjoyment of South Park: the Movie, I for one am not sorry to see the guy caught. One less nasty guy in a world with an abundance thereof.

Edited to remove smelling mistakes.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

Damn, got beaten to it. Curse this slow connection.

For some reason I can't delete the other thread I posted before seeing this one, but if this is true then good riddance to bad rubbish, says I. It won't fix the problems currently facing Iraq, true, but it's one less nasty tinpot despot in a world with quite enough already.

[Xandax]

Originally posted by das_hermit
Damn, got beaten to it. Curse this slow connection.

For some reason I can't delete the other thread, but if this is true then good riddance to bad rubbish, says I. It won't fix the problems currently facing Iraq, true, but it's one less nasty tinpot despot in a world with quite enough already.

The hope is that with Saddam out of the picture - Iraq have the possibility to move forward now withouth that "Ghost" still in the shadows. Unfortunally I think we will see an increase in violence from the saddam loyal followers, but as a whole - I see this as very good news.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

EDIT-Thanks @Xandax.

[fable]

Personally, I see this as a move by the US Department of Defense to distract US citizens from the fact that hatred of the US in at an all-time high in the MidEast--just as several commentators in the UK and US had said it would be, before the invasion was launched. Saddam, IMO, has had little or no hand in the attacks on US (and other) troops in Iraq. He was never liked in the MidEast, save by his own party, and they've been marginalized. Rather, it's the idea of the US marching in, taking over, and dictating the present and future of Iraq--after having done the same in Afghanistan--that is responsible for the mounting dead.

I wonder if the US will put Saddam on trial? Because if they do, and it's proceedings are made public, the deals brokered by Rumsfeld that provided him with the modern equivalent of mustard gas will become common knowledge.

And through it all, I hope somebody realizes that none of this hits back at the whole reason for our "MidEastern adventure"--stopping Al-Quida, the architects of 9/11, and capturing Usama bin Ladin.

[VonDondu]

We have now achieved our objective in going to war: Saddam Hussein will never be able to use weapons of mass destruction or give them to his diabolical friends.

(cough, cough, *hack*, cough)

And furthermore, this means that we will finally bring those who were responsible for 9-11 to justice.

(cough, *hack*, *hack*, cough, *hack*, cough, cough)

[Gwalchmai]

Good point, Ode, about the Geneva Convention. Xandax may be right about about increased violence, but I think Sadam loyalty will just be an excuse. LOL, VonDondu, you've captured my feelings perfectly!

[Lazarus]

Hm. Well, I hate to buck the cynical trend that this thread has taken, but I think the capture of Hussein is a great thing. The guy was evil (yeah, I know - we're not supposed to use that word - but it just fits so well!) As das_hermit says: "one less nasty tinpot despot in a world with quite enough already."

It has already been announced that he will be tried by the Iraqis, and I think this will give them confidence that he is really gone. As I've read through articles about Iraq in the past, one thing that was mentioned somewhat frequently was: the Iraqis were still really, really afraid that Saddam might somehow come back. Well, no more worry there. Who knows whether this will quell resistance in Iraq? Probably not, considering the number of foreign fighters who don't give a rat's patoot about Saddam, but it is a positive development however you look at it, IMO.

As for the shifting justifications of the war, etc, well, I've never been one of those that saw a 9/11 connection (though some do) and I think bin Laden and his followers are a far more important target than Saddam and his army ... but the fact remains: Saddam, the guy responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths, and the suppression of millions, is gone. And that was one of the goals of the invasion - whether you agree with the reasoning or not (and I don't).

EDIT: Anyone who would like to see a somewhat more positive take on the capture should check out Glenn Reynolds site. (I'm just linking to the front page, which today is full of comments on the subject, though if you tune in in the future you'll have to go looking through archives or some such.)

[C Elegans]

Aha, so the US forces have now found Saddam. They have however not found any Weapons of Mass Destruction.

I only see the capture as important inasmuch as the US government now has something that distract people from the failure to capture Osama bin Laden, the failure to find the WMD's that were the original objective of the invasion and the fact that hundreds of Americans and allied have died since the start of the invasion.

[Aegis]

It was interesting. I was reading some of the comments from the Glenn Reynolds site you posted, Laz, and some of them hinted at Chirac being sweating now that Saddam is captured. Well, as Fable has already mentioned, you would wonder why Rumsfield isn't? Aside from the fact that it will likely be a Coaltion lead trial, regardless of where it occurs, Saddam will undoubtily try to ruin the states image as much as he can, by telling about the American government supplying the means he used to be the dictator he was.

That leads me to believe we will see another event like what happened to John Wilkes Booth, in that there will be a convienant assassination, attempt at least, on Saddam before he can say anything.

Just a thought, really.

[Phantom Lord]

Well I think the good thing is that thousands of innocent victims of Saddam know that their nemesis has finally been hunted down. Imagining the situation of those who lost beloved ones or whose body and soul got scarred forever, I'm glad to hear it.

Anyway, this will be heavily used to justify a war that was started for quite obscure reasons and I don't like that aspect.

And what really baffles me is that Saddam didn't commit suicide.

[CM]

Shot him in the head and lets call it a day.