Because of this, GUEST:

"Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." -- John Donne

Bearing this in mind, I think many of us are torn when it comes to brutes like Saddam Hussein, hence Jeremiah McCaw's comment that he felt "curiously undiminished". That would be my guess as to what he meant.