BlackFive

This info is from an email from Blogs for Bush:

Here's a sampling of comments from Howard Dean's Blog for America about the Saddam capture. The very first one is a gem.

Here are the relevant threads:

http://blog.deanforamerica.com/archives/002681.html
http://blog.deanforamerica.com/archives/002682.html
http://blog.deanforamerica.com/archives/002683.html

Sounds like the got Saddam Hussein in Tikrit tonight during a raid a while ago. This from CNN. Gonna make things harder, because people are stupid. *sigh*
Posted by Lee O at December 14, 2003 05:05 AM

Re: Saddam

Dean really scared Bush, huh? If it's really Hussein, bet he gets killed. He probably knows where some of Bush's bodies are buried, so to speak.

(And how many body doubles was Hussein supposed to have?)

Posted by za at December 14, 2003 05:26 AM

How much you wanna bet that our military has known for a while where Sadaam has been and was only waiting for the cue from Bush/Rove to sweep in and get him? I wouldn't doubt that it's some strategic timing that Sadaam was captured now. Perhaps Bush/Rove wanted to try to take some wind out of Dean's sails right now thinking this would rally America around our Iraq Invasion/Occupation path. They're afraid of Dean in the general election.

I guess we first have to wait for the official verification that Sadaam was indeed captured.
We'll see, won't we.

Posted by jiminy at December 14, 2003 05:31 AM

Re: Saddam's capture

Jiminy - excellent point.

While this may be a good news, not sure how this will play out in our campaign.

If Saddam is to be tried, he needs to be sent to Hague. For the same reason Milosevic was not tried in Serbia, Saddam should not be tried by US imposed council in Iraq. Hague gives international legitimacy. I dare Bush to to something international for once.

Posted by mickie in nyc at December 14, 2003 05:42 AM

Hi all ---

Have been checking among various sources to see what's up about Saddam. Apparently, the source of the news comes from a so-far unconfirmed report from an Iranian news agency. Perhaps by the time that I finish this post, there will be some confirmation either way as events appear to be happening fast.

In surfing around, however, I also found an interesting poll in Aljazeera about whether countries who opposed the war in Iraq should be allowed to bid on contracts there. We all know BushCo's view on that.

The link is at http://english.aljazeera.net/HomePage of click on my name. After voting, check to see the results of other recent polls about Middle Eastern issues in which BushCo figures prominently, but does not fare well.

Dr. Dean: please start hitting very hard on the Halliburton (no bid) corruption and its ties to Cheney, how the bid exclusions (out of spite) will lead to no end of competitive disadvantages for the US around the world, and how, even if Saddam is captured, that will not provide us with an quick exit strategy from Iraq or an escape from the ultimate financial consequences of an illegal -- and VERY unwise -- invasion and occupation to which Chickenhawks-in-Chief (aka BushCo) sent our forces to die and be maimed in under the most spurious circumstances.

Saddam's capture, if that is true, changes essentially nothing for BushCo. All it will do is to divert the headlines for a bit until people realize that their own lives will stay as they are ... or get worse. Frankly, if we are going to catch him at all, it's better now or they would certainly hold Saddam in a "secured underground location" a la Cheney as an "October Surprise" next year.

Perhaps they DID capture him -- even some time back -- and the "October Surprise" has been the plan all along. I put nothing past BushCo. Nothing.

Posted by JudyforPeace at December 14, 2003 05:43 AM

trouble for the democrats now that saddam is captured
i guess we need to kill em on no WMD have been found and hope W [email protected] up with bring saddam to justice.

Posted by avr at December 14, 2003 06:32 AM

I am amazed they captured him alive. Can you imagine what an embarrasment the trial will be to the administration? Want to bet he dies in captivity??

Posted by ML in NH at December 14, 2003 06:32 AM

Saddam's captured? That's great. The man committed a lot of crimes and should be brought to justice. A lot of questions remain, though.

Will this lead to the finding or "finding" of WMDs?

Will this halt or diminish attacks on coalition soliders, Iraqis who are cooperating with the coalition, and aid groups?

Will this inflame anti-American Islamists in other parts of the world?

Will Shi'ite hardliners in Iraq use this to try to marginalize Sunnis, Kurds etc, in whatever new government is formed?

Time will tell.

Posted by Franster at December 14, 2003 06:33 AM

Saddam's capture is good for us!!!!

We are making Rove play his Aces a year before the election!!!!

He has only one ace left and that is Osama.

Posted by anamericanabroad at December 14, 2003 06:40 AM

unfortunately, this story will not remain unpartisan. I wish we could just say "GW sux and if it werent for him, we wouldnt be there, but hey, our troops rock" but it isnt our call. we need to define the dabte early

Posted by mattinPA at December 14, 2003 06:41 AM

Great News that Sadam Has been Captured! I wonder if we can go after Osama now? Or will Bush try to distract us with another war? In any case, this coulb be good or bad. Now that Sadams gone, the US may very well overstay thier welcome and cause even more chaos, or everything may be just peachy. We'll see...

Posted by Eidolon at December 14, 2003 06:44 AM

It is better that they "found" Saddam *now* than in Oct-Nov '04!!!!

Now this administration will have no more excuses as to why things are going so wrong in Iraq!!!!

They must be desperate because they are selling off their safety nets.

Someone said yesterday in the blog that why do we all think that Rove is soooo smart, he didn't get a majority vote for Bush last time...he is just a bully and a thug, that does not take much intelligence.

Posted by anamericanabroad at December 14, 2003 06:50 AM

Good news that our troops apparently captured Saddam. I hope that he will be tried and will be allowed to reveal where he got the chemical weapons he used against Iran. I hope that he will speak about getting the "okay" from Bush I to go ahead and invade Kuwait days before he did it, which allowed Bush I to make Gulf War I.

Good news, and our military should be praised for their sustained efforts and trials in the hostile land of Iraq. Good for all of us.

It does not change the fact that we went in without support, and are now playing imperial warlords with Iraq's oil. It does not change the fact that the Iraqis view us as occupiers rather than liberators.

Maybe we can change that perception. I truly hope so, but thus far George W. Bush has not shown he is capable of any diplomacy or extending olive branches. His international relations policies consist of force and gloating.

Expect a lot of gloating and smirking this week. It won't help him.

We should all be pleased that at least one positive thing came out of this entire mess.

That is, if it is Saddam... Where are those DNA tests we were promised on Uday and Kusay?

Posted by BushCorp at December 14, 2003 06:53 AM

Folks, don't worry, it's ok to be happy that Saddam may be captured.

What you have to remember to do is every time you say this is a good thing, you have to follow it up by pointing out that 1) Saddam had nothing to do with 9/11, 2) the war was still unjustified, as we have yet to find any WMD 3) Osama is still at large, 4) it took them 12+ years to capture Saddam, 5) Life still pretty much sucks here at home (unless you are rich).

If we're lucky, Dean and the staff will get the ball rolling today by stressing these points right off the bat.

Speaking of bat, I donated another $50 today. Go DEAN!

Posted by Kowgod (in Chicago) at December 14, 2003 07:19 AM

I don't care what a "monster" Saddam is, I just hope the U.S. does not mistreat him unnecessarily. He will go through a trial and we should treat ANYONE with the respect a human deserves.

The U.S. just hates him so that I am wondering about the treatment he will receive. It had better be up-and-up. This is not the time for the U.S. administration, etc. to be absolute bullies and flaunt this. Please tell me they will act in an appropriate and mature manner!!

Posted by FLPeach at December 14, 2003 07:34 AM

Sigh. All I can think about is the effect of Saddam's capture on the Dean campaign!

Gov. Dean and his advisers are going to have to scramble to incorporate this into his foreign policy address on Monday, preferably in a message that they'll be able to stick with. And they probably had a brilliant, winning speech worked out.

Bush and his team will be crowing about the capture in every statement for the next year.

I'm sorry to say it, but in many voters' minds, there may be only one thought about Bush come election day: "He caught Saddam."

And yes, Trippi's TV appearance today may be preempted in favor of something about the capture.

Somebody cheer me up, please!

Posted by: Rita in DC at December 14, 2003 07:41 AM | Link

So where are the WMD's? Where was the iminent threat? It's incredibly awesome that Hussein is out of power, but the ends don't justify the means.

Posted by Steve Lubot at December 14, 2003 07:48 AM

Lee.

Bagging Saddam is a publicity ploy and its better from a campaign position that its now then two weeks before the election. It wont change anything on the ground in Iraq. Robert

Posted by Robert Oler at December 14, 2003 07:55 AM

Well now Bush has his campaign fodder. "He got Saddam."

They are going to milk this one for everything they can.

Probably have a show trial that lasts up until election day.

Posted by Charlie Grapski at December 14, 2003 08:05 AM

I can't believe some of the paranoia on this blog about the "timing" of Saddams capture. You have to consider that most of the people doing intelligence gathering, analysis and capture operations have their own butts on the line when Saddams fedayeen attack. It's hardly realistic to think that the US army would be so supreme in Iraq that they could pick and choose when to grab Saddam - they'd never know how long he'd stay in one place. Furthermore it would be impossible to keep enough people in lockstep without letting them in on the "why" part - and there are too many good people in the Army for that.

Even if the capture was timed it's pretty self-aggrandizing of the Dean campaign to imagine that Deans foreign policy speech is so all-important that he Bush would use such an ace just to destroy it. Then he should have captured Saddam the day _after_ - putting Deans foot in mouth.

I like Dean and the Dean campaign, but some of you need to go outside for 10 minutes of fresh air. Sorry if I sound trollish, but it's my honest opinion.

Posted by Niels from Denmark at December 14, 2003 08:33 AM

IMO, Gov. Dean MUST lead with a convincing "This is great news" before proceeding with "but . . ."

Posted by Rita in DC at December 14, 2003 08:41 AM

The official line on the capture seems to be that Saddam will be tried as a war criminal by the Iraqis (e.g., the existing war crimes tribunal).

It seems to me this is premature. Why not the world court?

Whether an Iraqi court or world court, given that no weapons of mass destruction have been found, won't the legitimacy of the U.S. "pre-emptive" invasion come into question as part of any war crimes trial of Saddam? Or is the notion that this question can be avoided by "keeping it local" (in the hands of the Iraqis...largely under the control of the U.S.).

Posted by pat_k at December 14, 2003 10:07 AM