I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the capture of Saddam here and say a few words about it.

It's very obviously a good thing that we caught Saddam. I can't express fully how rare and historic it is to actually find a leader like this alive. Besides Milosevic, I can't think of a recent leader, accused of war crimes, that will actually be brought to justice before a world court. It'll be a complete media circus.

I do have mixed feelings about his capture though. It is a trully great thing that a brutal and horrific dictator has been brought to justice. I have no mixed feelings on that aspect of his capture.

But what I do have mixed feelings is that I think that this capture has a good possibility to blind our eyes to other important issues coming from Iraq. The more big events like this happen, the further and further we get from the Weapons of Mass Destruction argument. The more these big events like this happen, the further we get from the fact that when Saddam was committing his most brutal atrocities, he was an ally of the United States. I hope, but have a feeling that this is going to happen, that Saddam's capture doesn't steer our eyes from other big issues coming from Iraq.

What I think is going to happen is that the weapons of mass destruction thing is going to come full circle. What I'm saying is that I think the complete truth behind the WMD's (or lack thereof) is going to finally come out.

Unfortunately, the capture of Saddam is not going to stop the killing of soldiers in Iraq. I think the insurgency has gone beyond Saddam. To think that just because Saddam is captured that the rebels don't have anything to fight for is naive. We are through Saddam and into severe anti-American hostilities over in Iraq.

So...the capture is indeed a good thing, but I hope the hype doesn't completely blind our eyes. I'm sure it will.

matt out