My first reaction to Saddam's capture is that he has shown himself to be a typical bully: a coward. He didn't even have the grace of the Nazi bigwigs, who killed themselves, rather than be taken alive. Saddam gave up without a struggle, inflicted no casualties on our forces, and apparently began chatting with his captors.

How discouraging this must be to all those would—be suicide bombers!

The valiant reincarnation of Saladin looks like the street people I see every day in Berkeley. Spare change? Sorry, I'm out of hundred dollar bills.

The only non—Iraqi having a worse day than Howard Dean is Jacques Chirac. The cowardly Saddam is very likely to spill his guts. Just promise him a comfortable bed and a few hot meals, and Saddam is likely to reveal details of his contracts with French manufacturers of missles, WMD components, and anti—Semitic tracts. Even worse, he might expose details of the baksheesh he offered to French politicians, in return for their protective vetoes at the Security Council, and their benign neglect of UN sanctions.

We'll probably never hear the details. President Bush, being one heckuva strategerist, will squeeze ol' Jacques like a lemon. I don't exactly know what we want from the French, but I am guessing that whatever it is, we will get it, in return for the continued political viability of Jackie C.

Posted by Thomas 12 14 03