Ian Kershaw, distinguished historian and Hitler biographer:
Should [Saddam] then be condemned to death, many in the west (though not in Iraq) will face another moral dilemma. I won’t lose any sleep over it myself. I’m against the death penalty, but if ever there was a candidate for it… [Ellipsis in the original]David Aaronovitch:
In Tikrit yesterday… [a] small crowd had gathered to demonstrate support for the captured dictator. “Saddam is our hearts!” they shouted, “Saddam is in our blood!” To which the American apparently quietly replied, “Saddam is in our jail!”Anthony, round the corner at Black Triangle, writes:
Sometimes, the questions you ask reveal more about you than the the person you are questioning… When John Humphries suggested that any trial of Saddam Hussain might be embarrassing for America because it might show up involvement of the US with Saddam, he perhaps betrayed what seems to have been an underlying current on the Today Programme. He could have chosen to note.. the potential embarrassment for countries like France, Germany and Russia – all of which have more recent dealings with Saddam – but no the capture of Saddam has been turned into a stick to beat the Americans with.Coming up, the dnoc-letter of the year, is it? I couldn’t honestly say, so many of these have there been. But big it up anyway for Buck Rutledge:
The extraction of a haggard Saddam from a hole in the ground is only more evidence that Iraq never posed a serious threat to the US.Run that one again? On the other hand, don’t bother; just savour it. I mean, how much of a threat Iraq posed is arguable, from none at all, through some, right up to a great threat. But how does Saddam’s being pulled from a hole in the ground in December bear on the question? Aaaaanyway, early indications from a reliable source suggest that Saddam’s blogging days may now also be over:
Saddam’s laptop and wireless connection were discovered during a body cavity search, and quickly confiscated. This would seem to indicate he’s made his last blog entry.