It's going to be days before I sort out all my feelings about the capture of Saddam.  As I've already posted, I'm left with more questions than answers even after this event.

One thing that sticks in my craw, that somehow doesn't agree with all the press I've read is the difference between what limited amount I've been able to see and the commentary I've heard from the government and the press.

It's long pissed me off that Saddam had 75 palaces, give or take, in a country the size of Texas.  His people needed those resources for basic services and infrastructure.  Completely immoral behavior on his part against ALL of his people.

Yet photos I've seen -- held in my own hands, taken by troops there -- tell another story.  Not in complete opposition to my previous judgment, just something more.

What do you see in these fuzzy photos taken of a "palace" in either Kirkuk or Tikrit?  Does it do the same to you as it does to me?

12:13:08 PM    comment []

We’ve been watching the television coverage for hours now this morning regarding the capture of Saddam Hussein.  My husband has already exchanged emails with an aunt who’s been watching since as early as 4:00 am EST.  Hubby could barely contain himself, waking me up to tell me about this news.

I’m surprised that I have so many different feelings about this event.  I didn’t expect to feel this way, very torn and concerned and pleased at the same time.

As they display video of a tired man being checked by a doctor, I am suspicious.  Is this one of Saddam’s many doubles?  How long will DNA verification take?  Will we, all of us around the world, be able to trust this verification?  Can we be spared the ghastly ghoulishness that came with the deaths of Uday and Qusay? 

This scruffy man is the cause of so much heartache and pain, for his own people, for neighboring countries, for people here and in coalition countries.  It will such a relief to know he cannot bring any further harm to others.  Will it be enough to liberate the hearts and minds of the Iraqis?  Will it be enough to bring attacks on our troops to an end?  Will other countries step up and help now that security might be improving?

The raid conducted near Tikrit was so very close to where our son/stepson served.  I am so glad that he was not there during what has been a dangerous time for our troops, yet I am sorry after all he must have been through that he couldn’t be there for this.  It’s a piece of closure for him that will have to be virtual, remote.

What happens now to this shadowy personage, a tepid version of the man who once ruled Iraq?  If the Iraqis prosecute him in a tribunal, will the legitimacy of their decision be questioned?  What kind of sentence can they mete out without some repercussion to the Iraqi people?  What punishment will be suitable for a man with whom the U.S. has been complicit through its support during the Iran/Iraq War?  Where is our place in this when we failed the Iraqi people by not prosecuting Saddam when he committed genocide against his own people, when we failed to be a true world leader by preemptively, unilaterally attacked for other reasons?

Will the American people forget the troops who have died, forget the shaky grounds on which we launched this mission?  Will they ignore the fact that weapons of mass destruction have yet to be found, that only a fatigued and dirty man was found in a hole in Iraq?

So many answers bringing so many more questions.

11:06:16 AM    comment []

Help!  I've fallen into a technology gap and I can't get up!!!

The post I wrote at 8:00 am is on the laptop; the laptop is hung and won't shut down, manually or otherwise.  Grrr...

More later.

10:07:38 AM    comment []