This is the type of news that makes you wonder whether what you have just read on your screen is for real. Saddam captured! I just had a chance to sit down and watch CNN with my two kids, one asking if Wolf Blitzer was Grandpa and the other pointing to Saddam asking: “Is that a monkey?” She is too young to understand but monkey is probably too generous and nice a term for this man, but today he sure looked like one!

A complete round-up of blogosphere reactions to the capture of Saddam can be found over at The Truth Laid Bear. My other recommendation for the day is Wizbang, where Kevin challenges you to beat Indymedia by coming up with conspiracy theories that describe why Saddam was capured today.

A few more thoughts: I had some time to digest this news. With celebrating Iraqis in the streets and a phenomenal jump in the value of the Iraqi Dinar I think today’s events are a huge confidence builder for Iraq and its future. Let’s see how the rest of the Arab world reacts. Especially the way in which Saddam was captured is telling, no firefight, no suicide, no heroism. Any chance of martyr status evaporated on the spot and a likely death penalty will not change that. Saddam falls in the Ceaucescu class and keeping him imprisoned leaves the door open for Baathist remnants to bring him back at some point in time in whatever format. Therefore, the Iraqi courts need to deal with him now in a fair and swift manner, after coalition forces have fully debriefed him.