One indisputable bit of good news—or so one might have thought—was the capture of Saddam Hussein on December 13. Actually, news of Saddam’s capture was met by considerable wailing and gnashing of teeth among many disaffected Democrats, including Howard Dean who just managed to mumble that he supposed it was “a good thing.” Within an hour or two of Saddam’s being dragged out of his spider hole, there were cries that the U.S. had “humiliated” the poor man. Cardinal Renato Martino, a “top Vatican official,” criticized the U.S. military for airing footage of Saddam being examined by doctors. “I felt pity to see this man destroyed,” the Cardinal said, “[the military] looking at his teeth as if he were a cow. They could have spared us these pictures.” Maybe. For our part, we think those images sent a salutary message to the Arab world: dictators who rape, torture, and murder h ...

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