Current Events

Try as I might, there is no escaping the big headline news: Saddam found like rat in hole. The other image that occured to me, since Saddam reportedly considered himself a successor to Nebuchadnezzar, was Wm Blake's image of that historic despot — bent over, crawling on the ground like a wild beast.

I take little pleasure in his capture. His status as leader was initiated and maintained, until about a decade back, by the United States. If he was a cruel and evil despot, it's largely the fault of the folk who got him in power and helped him maintain power.

I was asked how his capture would affect our lives. I doubt his capture will affect the lives of people in America very much at all. One may hope that his capture will decrease attacks which are inpired by those who wish to see him restored to power, but at this point I doubt many of these attacks are so motivated.

I have yet to see any convincing evidence that Saddam was responsible for 9/11/01 in even the most remote fashion. I have yet to hear or see any evidence that convinces me that Saddam was a valid threat to America or our nearby allies. No doubt he wanted to be a threat, and would have sought WMD given the opportunity, but neither of these desires were reality at the time of our attack.

For a more complete and detailed editorial on this topic, see this Statement on Recent Developments In Iraq.