Every tyrant should be like Saddam, spending his last free day cowering in a hole

The capture of Saddam Hussein could not have gone better. It was accomplished without any loss of life And Saddam, scraggly and filthy, was found cowering in a hole in the ground.
Pictures of him having his beard and hair inspected for lice were worth 10,000 words.
For more than two decades, Saddam depicted himself as bigger than life in huge photos, portraits and statuary. He struck heroic, defiant poses, most famously, perhaps, firing a rifle into the air, one handed. He had a pistol at hand when he was captured, but he dared not to use it.
Sunday, after hearing of Saddam's capture, Iraqi citizens were firing into the air, a traditional gesture of celebration in that country. It could be said that they were celebrating the first day of the rest of their lives.
Cause for caution
That is not to say that Saddam's capture is the end of all trouble and turmoil in Iraq. Even the pleasure of seeing Saddam captured cannot and should not encourage an expectation that job of rebuilding Iraq will be easy. Easier, yes; easy, not at all.
The immediate reaction to Saddam's capture might even increase the danger for coalition troops in Iraq, Iraqi citizens inclined to join in the job of rebuilding and even private citizens of the United States and other coalition nations.
The most fervent of Saddam's disciples could well ignore the cowardly example set by their former leader and launch suicide attacks. Radical Islamists may also use the capture as an excuse to launch attacks on any civilians they see as the enemy. Intellectually neither response makes sense, because Saddam showed himself unwilling to risk his own life for any cause and he was a historically secular leader who never showed a great concern for Islam. Logic, however, is lost on fanatics and cultists.
In the long run, Saddam's capture provides opportunities for healing and reconstruction.
Insurgents who had continued their attacks on coalition forces in the hope that Saddam would return to power and that they would resume the privileged lives that members of his regime enjoyed now know their cause is lost.
Ordinary Iraqis who had no interest in seeing a despot such as Saddam return to power but were understandably fearful of that possibility, can now be assured that his reign of terror has ended for good.
President's hand strengthened
The capture also allows President Bush, operating from the strong position that only a victory such as Saddam's capture can provide, to reach out to other nations, giving them an opportunity to join in the job of rebuilding Iraq.
"The former dictator of Iraq will face the justice he denied to millions," President Bush said in a midday address from the White House. "In the history of Iraq, a dark and painful era is over. A hopeful day has arrived."
Realizing the hope that this new day represents is a job for the Iraqi people, with the aid of all nations that claim to be committed to freedom.
With Saddam's capture, all things are possible, but nothing is assured.