yesterday morning, when i heard that saddam hussein had been captured, it took me a minute to really believe what had gone down while i slept. on the one hand, here is this tyrannical, narcissistic, violent coward in handcuffs, finally. on the other hand, it was a very anti-climactic end to the eight month show-down. even the captain who found hussein in his hole in the ground with his mars bars and his rotting fruit said, “there it was. it wasn’t the blaze of glory we expected.” god bless them for their sacrifices and their bravery, they got lucky. they were on their day off for heaven’s sake.
and what does this change, really? those soldiers won’t get home for christmas. iraq is still a bedlam of economic and political chaos. international alliances have been jeopardized. the random deaths of american soldiers and the war itself still go without honest justification. confusion and uncertainty reign both iraq and american now that hussein has been dethroned. and osama bin laden, remember him? he still sleeps in his own cave somewhere in afghanistan.
i guess mr. bush looks pretty good right now. he woke up one white house morning to discover that 600 soldiers (he’ll never know their names) had fulfilled the bush legacy he’d been holding out for since i was in the first grade.
i still love you, america. peace.
quote of the day: “ladies and gentleman, we got him.” – l. paul bremer
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