Glad we got Saddam, but here's the problem:

[phillybri]

His condition at his capture proves one thing unequivocally to me:

Saddam was not coordinating the guerilla attacks that have been claiming our soldiers one-by-one. This scares me, because now we know that his capture is essentially a symbolic moment.

Our troops are up against something larger and, quite frankly, more dangerous than a washed-up dictator hiding in a makeshift shelter.

Our troops face as much (if not, more) danger as a result of the capture.

I hope I'm WAAAAAAAY off on this, but Saddam was not the mastermind here, and the attacks probably won't be stopping any time soon...

:-(

[trotsky]

1. They may even escalate.

Iraqis may feel that now Saddam is gone, why are the Americans still here? Resentment against what is perceived to be an occupation force could easily grow.

[calimary]

7. WAY good point. I bet more than just the Iraqis are going to start

wondering that same thing, themselves. Okay, so is it "Mission Accomplished" or what? You gonna live by what you say?

We've got several additional fronts here, too: 1) Our troops. 2) The families of our troops. 3) The voters. 4) The Brits (other than Tony Blair - although I'd bet he's dying to get out of this, too). And last and, to these people, certainly least, 5) The world community.

Be alert! The bushies are going to HAVE to cave on this. Be watchful for the way they spin it. We have to have big voices and big people making noise about this to counter the spin. If the war gets totally spun positively, we're in trouble.

[calimary]

8. WAY good point. I bet more than just the Iraqis are going to start

on edit - POOO! computer glitch. Did not mean to duplicate - sorry!

[nini]

2. EXACTLY!

This is gonna get even worse.

[Droopy]

3. I never thought that he was behind the attacks

How on earth would he have gotten word out to so many people? What communtcations system would he have used? These attacks are uncoordinated hit and miss. There is no leader of the resistance. It's just ordinary joes that are pissed about our occupation of their country.

[bobbieinok]

4. This seems so obvious

But the media seem only through bushco eyes.

[starroute]

5. Our real problem is going to be with the Shi'ites, anyway

They're the majority, they've been carefully building their power base, and by all accounts they're just biding their time before making a move to become the controlling force in the new Iraq.

If the capture of Saddam has any effect at all, it seems most likely to be as putting a definite end-point to the period of Sunni dominance and clearing the way for the Shi'ites to take center stage.

[library_max]

6. "The attacks probably won't be stopping any time soon."

Probably not. The longer we stay in Iraq, the more Iraqis are going to want to see us gone. And capturing Saddam actually kills one of our excuses for staying, that we want to make sure he doesn't take power again. It's becoming increasingly clear that what we're really trying to do is save Iraq from the Iraqi people.

[Skittles]

9. um, ILLEGALLY INVADING A COUNTRY

tends to PISS OFF SOME OF ITS PEOPLE.

[tom_paine]

10. Agreed, phillybri

So true. Saddam was "locked" in a hole. Which raises a whole host of questions, but even assuming Saddam's capture was on the up-and-up, you are absolutely correct that he wasn't co-ordinating sh*t.

[phillybri]

11. I believe the capture is on the up-and-up....

...but, our troops are far from safe. There are already reports of violence among Saddam loyalists.

In addition, the elements that have been pouring into Iraq are just as, if not more threatening...

[alwynsw]

12. Locked by a piece of styrofoam?

[alwynsw]

13. If, by some miracle, he's imprisoned instead of executed

I believe that we will see an unprecedented numbers of hostage situations and other terrorist actions demanding his release.

[VOX]

14. As long as our troops are in Iraq, they are targets...

Saddam has nothing to do with the hatred that Iraqis and Middle Easterners feel for the U.S.

And after we blew the living sh** out of their country earlier this year, I'd say that they have good reason to hate us all the more.

[Karenina]

15. Now that Saddam has been "captured"

The fear of returning to Iraq has been lifted for many who have sat glued to their TV sets, watching in horror at the devastation of their country by GUESS WHO! A guy in our neighborhood packed as soon as he heard the news. I didn't see any lights in his window today.

All bets are off. Let's see if Saddam EVER gets the chance to "out" his co-conspirators. I tend to doubt it. In the picture I saw today his pupils were as big as saucers. He'd still STOMP *dimson in any verbal exchange even if it were in English. I make NO predictions and I wish this nauseous feeling would go away...