SADDAM IS CAUGHT


The Butcher of Baghdad is now in U.S. custody, and on the road to being tried for his crimes by the Iraqi people. Some quick thoughts on what this means for the year ahead.


In Iraq, this is a major blow to the Baathist part of the terrorist coalition fighting to prevent the U.S. from establishing a stable, democratic Iraq. We will now be primarily facing the foreign jihadis who had flooded the country and have declared it their primary front in the war on America. Without the post-Baathist infrastructure however, the jihadis will be increasingly isolated. While there is still much to do in Iraq, the capture of Saddam greatly improves the prospects for success


This of course is a disaster for the anti-war wing of the Democratic party, banking on quagmire in Iraq as the means to attack Bush in 2004. There is no adequate response to the blunt words of Joe Lieberman, that if the country followed the advice of Howard Dean and Co., Saddam would still be in power, rather than in prison. Despite this, I doubt that this will stem the gathering momentum of Dean. That the war in Iraq is a disaster is a matter of faith for the cultural left. They will wait for the first piece of bad news to renew their assault on Bush's policies, oblivious the lack of traction these charges are making outside of their own circle.