Having learned from the experience of the aftermath of the demise of Saddam Hussein's sons, coalition forces were very chary of releasing this news (in Europe it took something like six hours before the story was definitely confirmed). When they did come out with the news it was backed up by the statement that this definitely Saddam Hussein, by the man's own admission, by DNA testing and by identification by others who knew him well.

The pictures showing the medic examining his mouth and taking a swab provided some form of visual evidence to the world at large that what they were saying was the truth.

I take Kevin's point, but I believe that this was necessary and done for the best possible motives. The coalition forces have captured most of the targets that appeared as the "pack of cards", how many of the others have been shown on film?