Put Saddam on trial in Iraq

Saddam Hussein's capture Sunday was an enormous victory for the United States that will lead to several consequences. It offers some cautions, as well, for a coalition whose work is far from done.

This great find will have the most meaning if Saddam is tried in a special Iraqi tribunal established only days ago and if his trial is public and accessible to all in Iraq.

Only last Wednesday, the Iraqi governing council established the court to try top government officials accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. This would be a fitting venue for a trial, and some Iraqis are demanding as much. But the occupation forces also must be sensitive to the claims by international groups that Saddam should be treated as a prisoner of war and that his treatment should be carefully monitored.

It is imperative that Saddam's trial should stand as a triumph of the rule of law, in sharp contrast to Saddam's own brutal rule through fear and brute force. It also must serve as an example for Iraqis to follow as they establish their own future government.

For sure, things changed forever in Iraq on Sunday. Any time the chief instigator of a vicious movement is caught and humiliated, it deflates the movement and stifles recruitment. Saddam's Baathist party ruled the nation with an iron fist. Even in exile, he was able to intimidate people just because they were uncertain whether he would return.

But his capture from a smelly hole in the ground has done more to discredit him and his claim to power than anything coalition forces might otherwise have been able to do. He emerged looking like a wild and frightened fugitive, not a noble or courageous leader. A 50-year-old man in Yemen summed up this picture by telling the Associated Press, "I expected him to resist or commit suicide before falling into American hands. He disappointed a lot of us; he's a coward."

With Saddam in custody, the interim Iraqi government will gain a stature of legitimacy that previously was difficult to attain. It also is likely to lead to more frank discussions about atrocities committed under Saddam's regime. A new Gallup poll estimates 61,000 people were executed in Baghdad alone. Human rights groups believe up to 500,000 people were brutally murdered nationwide, although some Iraqi sources put the figure at 1 million or more. Without the fear of reprisal, people should be much more willing to tell what they know.

However, the capture does not mean attacks against coalition forces will end. Only hours before Saddam's capture, U.S. Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez said he expects to see an increase in attacks leading up to the July 1 deadline for turning power over to a transitional Iraqi government. He said this would happen regardless of whether Saddam was captured.

The most important consequence, however, is that this capture has given new legitimacy to the coalition's operations in Iraq and to the decision to attack in the first place. It was welcome news, indeed.