This government will now try use the capture of Saddam Hussein to justify it's actions in Iraq. We will know soon the extent to which this argument will hold up for this government, who's illegal war has already murdered over 10,000 civilians in Iraq. While I welcome the capture of Saddam Hussein and the fall of his government, I wish no less for George W. Bush and his government, my only problem being that Hussein is not in the hands of the Iraqi people. I think these murderers should be tossed into the main street in their respective capitols and subject to the rule of the mob.

This government invaded a sovereign nation based on falsified, fake, and hyped up information. People are cheering that the Army caught a man they knew was there, yet they remain silent about the "weapons of mass destruction" and "the Al Qaida connection" that have yet to surface. Were the motives for invading this land "to capture Saddam Hussein", because as I understand, they we're based on charges of an imminent threat to the Western world. Dictators (as well as illegitimate "presidents") do not threaten the world on their own, the threat stems from their will and ability to attack, along with the weapons to facilitate that attack. The news has had nothing, not once in the past year of this slaughter, that has shown Iraq to be a physical threat to the West. I refuse to be swayed by the romantic casing given to the capture of this man, as it has not legitimized the death and destruction of so many and so much, nor will it slow down the "redevelopment" schemes of the corporate face of United States imperialism.

I recognize that many may argue that Saddam Hussein had to be caught somehow, and I agree. I am in no way trying to legitimize his rule or actions, as they are as deplorable as the actions taken by this government to oust him. When rulers take their power beyond limits sanctioned by popular assemblies, they have opened themselves to the repercussions of those popular assemblies. It is the people who should have the final say in matters of their own destinies and lives, not any elected, appointed, or self-declared ruler. I would have loved to have seen this man overthrown by the Iraqi people, facing the products of his injustices, and met with the force necessary to move beyond dictatorship. At the same time, I would like to see the Iraqi people rise up against the imperialists that have taken their country away from them this time and fight for self-determination and independence. All we have seen take place is a transfer of the same power-system, from one dictator to the next. There was no election for Paul Bremer, or for Bechtel or the World Bank, yet they are running this country, with plans to turn it into a capitalist pawn in the U.S. global strategy.

We cannot let the injustices done by Saddam Hussein blind us from the reality that this war was fought for corporations and their benefactors, high-up politicians, and the wealthy few in Iraq who have sold out their own people to profit from the rule of U.S. imperialism. We have been lied to, spat upon, and robbed by this government to fund this illegal war, and we must remain rebellious to it. We should not legitimize their war through support of the military or corporate occupation of Iraq. We should boycott all Western companies that have established residence in Iraq and take actions against them. We should stand in solidarity with the people in Iraq who are risking their lives struggling against the empire, fighting for dignity and the safety and well-being of their people. We should reject our government's attempt to justify it's brutal expansion by seizing on the hardships and pain of the oppressed. We, as the people of the world, must destroy any government that uses fear, greed, intimidation, and violence to extract freedom from the people it claims to protect.