# Saddam Hussein Captured! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 14, 2003, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddam-hussein-captured/218928 "2003-12-14T10:41:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddam-hussein-captured/218928/141 "2003-12-15T21:34:14Z")
With reference to weapons of mass destruction: It is a fact that Iraq under Saddam had made and used WMD in the past - definitively against Iran and almost certainly against Kurds internally. It is a fact that UN inspectors did find clear evidence of the manufacture of and, in some cases, the actual weapons, after the 1991 Gulf War. The more recent evidence is less definite, but at the least strongly indicated that Saddam was working hard to maintain the capacity to manufacture chemical WMD, and to develop working biological and nuclear WMD. It appears clear that he was certainly flouting the non-WMD restrictions imposed by the UN (long-range missles, etc.). **In my opinion** , based on the evidence so far, Saddam was doing his best to convince the world that he actually had WMD whether he did or not. Whether this was simple egotistical posturing, a calculated strategy to discourage US intervention, or a ploy to increase his popularity with potential allies, I hesitate to guess. I don’t much like the man, but I think, _based on the evidence available to them at the time_, that Bush and his advisors had to assume that either Saddam had WMD or would soon have them, and didn’t want to wait until they had incontrovertable proof when he actually used them on someone, possibly the US. I would see this as a reasonable worst-case interpretation of the evidence rather than a lie. (Whether this justified an invasion of Iraq is another issue.) ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddam-hussein-captured/218928/142 "2003-12-15T21:50:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Snooooopy \* > \*\*They captured him during “Operation Red Dawn.” > > Two of the locations secured during this operation were code-named “Wolverine 1” and “Wolverine 2.” > > Somebody in the top brass is a movie fan! 🙂 \*\* Pity it wasn’t “Badger 1” and “Badger 2”. BADGER BADGER BADGER BADGER BADGER BADGER BADGER BADGER BADGER BADGER BADGER BADGER SADDAM SADDAM ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddam-hussein-captured/218928/143 "2003-12-16T03:09:19Z")
\ **Author:** ![Palewriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@Palewriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palewriter)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddam-hussein-captured/218928/144 "2003-12-16T04:52:26Z") “Saddam Hussein has been captured. What does that change for the ordinary Iraqi? Very little, as far as I can see.” Apparently, you can’t see further than your own political agenda. It doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to figure out that his capture is the definitive end of a dynasty. I’m confident that an Iraqi court will eventually find him guilty of crimes that warrant stringing his sorry ass up. JMHO. ---
**Author:** ![chcoco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@chcoco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chcoco)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddam-hussein-captured/218928/145 "2003-12-16T06:08:06Z")
It stupid that now we capture him and so Bush’s ratings for the next election are now going up, coinciedent? ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddam-hussein-captured/218928/146 "2003-12-16T10:35:08Z")
Lot of time before the next election. Lot of time for approval ratings to plummet again. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddam-hussein-captured/218928/147 "2003-12-16T12:40:12Z")
They say “In politics, a year is an eternity.” Or something to that effect. By the time the election rolls around, no one will care about Saddam anymore. It’ll be the economy that determines who’s president in 2005. ---
**Author:** ![Nichol\_storm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Nichol\_storm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nichol_storm)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2003, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddam-hussein-captured/218928/148 "2003-12-20T01:51:37Z")
Lots of interesting reactions from the [Iraqi bloggers](http://acepilots.com/mt/mt-static/iraqmap.html). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddam-hussein-captured/218928.md?page=7)