Juan Cole celebrates that "a nightmare has ended," giving a concise run-down on some of Saddam's worst crimes against his own people. As far as its effects on political events in Iraq, Cole thinks that Saddam "was probably already irrelevant." But he believes the final end of the possibility of a Saddam restoration will make the Shiite activists more willing to oppose the occupation.
Josh Marshall is happy to see the final end of the rule of a man who "tortured and killed untold numbers of his own people and launched two unnecessary and, for his own country, disastrous wars." He fears that Saddam's capture will "not fundamentally change the situation on the ground in the country." But he's guardedly optimistic.
Billmon isn't optimistic that Saddam's capture will help to pacify Iraq. Along with some provocative literary flourishes, he points out that in Iraq, a trial for Saddam would likely be "less a catharsis than an agonizing exploration of the past, one which would reveal just how thoroughly the Baath penetrated every nook and crany of Iraqi society, and -- even worse -- badly compromise many of the putative leaders of the New Iraq."
Steve Gilliard is also glad to see Saddam in custody. "All murderers and dictators should be in jail." But he thinks that Saddam was, at most, a symbol for the resistance, which he thinks will not be hampered by this event. He also repeats a point he often makes, which is that "Saddam couldn't trust his own army." What, he asks the optimists, "makes you think that Army, unemployed and humiliated, is now fighting for him? Because it is fighting Americans and doing a decent job of it."
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