The capture of Saddam Hussein is the biggest news this world has seen in a while, but the way in which he was captured was almost more interesting–he could have suicided, as he’d always said he would do, he could have fought back (his position was ultimately hopeless, but he could have killed as many soldiers as he had bullets if he had wanted to), but instead he meekly submitted. Judging by the initial reactions of the Arab media, I think his submission might mean more in the end than the fact that he was captured.
When the previous President Bush fought Saddam, the fact that Saddam remained in power was a tremendous boost to the Iraqi tyrant’s image, because it allowed him to present himself as a survivor who could never truly be defeated. So much for that.