I was aware of the UN position -- which I consider about as hypocritical as they come, unless they are trying to guard against making that butcher into a martyr who will be used to wind up other crazies. That would give the UN some credence here, but I'd still agree with Dubya on this one.

Saddam was a loose cannon, wiping out whole segments of his own people and scaring the hell out of all his neighbours. I think they'll be quite happy to see him executed if it comes to that. There is also the fact that the various Arab countries distust each other enough so that the "martyr" thing will be relatively contained. He was a secular leader, not a religion-based one like a bin Laden, who has spread his power base far enough to be a world threat.

I don't want to rehash the whole "weapons of mass destruction" debacle -- except to say the U.S.'s certainty that he had them was based on the fact they supplied him with the technology -- but Saddam was basically just a boil on the world's ass that needed to be lanced. By comparison, bin Laden is a major cancer that has metasticized and threatens the whole body...

cheers,

david