I should offer, in closing, the admission that perhaps the only thing Saddam had to hide was that he had nothing to hide, as we now know.

Hmmm...that's a witty line, and I suppose it could very well turn out to be quite true. Had it been common knowledge outside the Baath Party just how fragile the regime was, Saddam may have become dogfood at the hands of the Iraqis themselves.

Do you feel, S (and anyone else who cares to respond) that there's anything at all to come out of the conflict that can be seen in a positive light? I'm not necessarily talking about something that justifies the war, but maybe just removes it from the category of a complete and total disaster in your eyes. For instance, was giving the Iraqis a future without Saddam worth the price? I know that was never the overt reason for the invasion, but as a "by-product...?"