A Step Toward Mission Accomplished

AMMAN, Jordan -- The moment that television screens showed the wild, bearded face of Saddam Hussein, looking more like a homeless tramp than a pitiless dictator, it was as if a voodoo spell had been broken.

Even after American tanks rolled into their country last March, many Iraqis remained frightened that Hussein would somehow return. During interviews, they would suddenly fall silent when they noticed someone nearby with ties to the old regime. Until we know that Hussein is really gone, they would say, we can't be sure the nightmare is over.

On Sunday, Iraqis and the world could see that the Saddam Hussein era had finally ended. As soon as television footage of the captured leader was broadcast, cheers erupted in the streets of Baghdad and even from Iraqi journalists assembled for the news conference announcing the former leader's capture.

The pictures went out live on al-Jazeera to the Arab world, and for once no amount of spin could blunt the images: Arab viewers could see jubilant Iraqis parading in the streets, honking horns, passing out sweets, firing guns in the air in celebration.

The Arab stations seemed to be avoiding any conspiracy theories about doctored footage. Anyone could see that the face was Hussein's, although unshaven he looked more like the Unabomber than a former president whose very name had terrorized his country.

An Iraqi named Mustafa Yacoub sat in the barber chair at the Anwar for Men barbershop in Amman on Sunday as al-Jazeera showed reruns of the hideaway where Hussein had been captured. "I think this is the end of this gentleman," Yacoub said with a smile. Now, he said, there would be "no more fear."

But even Yacoub, a Shiite who had been imprisoned by Hussein, seemed embarrassed by how shabby the former ruler looked and by the fact he hadn't put up any resistance. "I felt shame," he said. "This is very bad, after 34 years of controlling the country." Yacoub said he wished Iraqis had captured Hussein, rather than Americans.

Most Iraqis will probably feel a similarly complex mix of emotions as they contemplate the idea of Hussein in American captivity -- relief, shame, hope, dread. And his trial could be a painful, divisive moment for the country, bringing back old hatreds and calls for vengeance.

For the United States, Hussein's capture offers a new start for an Iraq policy that in recent weeks looked as if its wheels were coming off. It shows the power and panache of the U.S. military, whose competence many Iraqis had begun to doubt.

But the Bush administration shouldn't be popping too many champagne corks in the expectation that resistance to U.S. occupation will now end. Instead, resistance could actually intensify. "Now it's no longer about Saddam bouncing back into power, it's about resisting U.S. occupation," said political analyst Labib Kamhawi.

The Baath Party, free of Hussein's baggage, may also find new energy. That was the theme of a recent series of articles in the Arabic daily Al-Quds al-Arabi by Salah Omar Ali, a prominent Baathist rival of Hussein. Certainly, the Baathists won't just fade away without Hussein. They will continue doing what they know best, which is running a ruthless, clandestine organization.

A key challenge for the U.S.-led coalition will be to renew its outreach to Sunni Muslims, who in recent months have moved toward open revolt. "The Americans need to be talking to the Sunni tribal leadership, to reassure them that the Sunnis are an active and equal part of the new Iraq," argues Ali Shukri, a former top Jordanian military officer who for decades helped manage Jordan's secret contact with Iraqi tribal leaders.

Many Iraqis are likely to react to Sunday's news by saying it's time for the Americans to go. "It might make the Iraqis more demanding toward the Americans," says Adnan Abu Odeh, a former adviser to the late King Hussein. That's a demand that the Americans can use to their advantage.

Saddam Hussein's capture should help the United States press ahead with the transfer of power to the Iraqis. Now it's up to the Iraqis to come together, resolve their differences and build a new country. If the Bush administration is wise, it can use Hussein's capture to create the conditions for a free Iraq and then begin extracting itself honorably.

The United States' responsibility for rebuilding Iraq is far from over. But with the butcher of Baghdad behind bars, it should be easier for America to someday honestly announce: "Mission accomplished."

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