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Who wants to be an Iraqi millionaire?! Apparently, a lot of people do. Intelligence tips from Iraqis concerning the whereabouts of Saddam Hussein have been pouring in to the allies ever since Baghdad fell. And today those tips paid off; Saddam Hussein was captured. He had been hiding in a rat-hole beneath a cellar, an appropriate place for vermin to hide. As the night of December 13th gave way to the morning of December 14th allied soldiers raided a house based on tips they had received from Iraqis. While the immediate raid did not result in the capture of Saddam, allied forces believed that he was close by, and secured the neighborhood to enable a house-to-house search. Seeing a suspicious air hole and vent beneath one modest house they began digging...and came up with Saddam Hussein.

This is an incredible victory, for the people of Iraq and for the allied forces in Iraq. Iraqis poured into the streets to celebrate the capture of Saddam Hussein. Firing traditional celebration shots into the air and honking their car horns, the people of Iraq celebrated an event that signals a final stage in the Iraqi liberation. With the capture of Saddam, the forces trying to resist the Iraqi liberation will have little to fight for. Only the terrorists and dead-enders will continue to fight, and their goals are simply the prolonging of suffering in Iraq.

Online the news and celebration spread at the speed of light. Within minutes political discussion groups on Yahoo!, LiveJournal and Usenet were flooded with messages about the capture of Saddam Hussein. The blogs came alive as well, especially the Iraqi blogs. Here is a small sample of the reaction from Iraqi bloggers:

• Horrraaaaa It's the justice day. I'm speechless. I'm crying. ... Thank you American, British, Spanish, Italian, Australian, Ukrainian, Japanese and all the coalition people and all the good people on earth. God bless the 1st brigade. God bless the 4th infantry division. God bless Iraq. God bless America. God bless the coalition people and soldiers. God bless all the freedom loving people on earth. I wish I could hug you all. —Iraq the Model

• The Ululation of Gunfire again; you should all be here now. What fireworks! You should be here. The Baghdadis are expressing what they really think again. Can you hide this now CNN & others?

  Before this, I prayed the traditional prayers of thanksgiving. That I, and the Iraqi people should see this day! This, surely, is the mother of all days for us. The heroes of our valiant Pesh Mergas, and the heroes of the U.S. Fourth division have done it. ... Long live the great alliance of Mesopotamia and the United States of America and her allies. Now is the time, now is the time; Do not delay; unleash the Counter Terror. God Bless Iraq; God Bless America; God bless the Allies. And above all Praise be to Allah the Almighty the Avenger. —The Mesopotamian

• I don’t know what to say.. I am confused.. no … I am very happy.. I am very happy.. .. I am very happy.. .. I am very happy.. .. I am very happy.. .. I am very happy.. .. I am very happy.. This is the end of tyranny.. congratulations .. a great day.. for Iraqi and all the good people.. share us our great day.. I can’t express my feelings.. thanks to the coalition forces and all the honest people who helped in that great operation…. thank you thank you thousand times.. Huhhhhhuaaa... look at the monkey!!! —Iraq at a Glance

• It is a victory for the victims of his regime and the righteous people of Iraq and the WORLD at large. BBC world has been showing big celebrations live from Baghdad including celebratory gun fires. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL AND HAPPY NEW YEAR (2004) WITHOUT THE TYRANT! It is a VICTORY TO ALL OF US." —Hammorabi

Allied officials gave details of the capture and initial interrogation of Saddam: U.S. troops found Saddam hiding in an underground crawl space at the walled compound. The entrance to the hide-out—covered with Styrofoam, rugs and dirt—was a few feet from small, mud-brick hut where Saddam had been staying. Saddam, who seemed resigned to his fate, was still defiant an unapologetic:

He didn't seem apologetic. He seemed defiant, trying to find excuses for the crimes in the same way he did in the past.

When we told him, 'If you go to the streets now, you will see the people celebrating.' He answered, 'Those are mobs.' When we told him about the mass graves, he replied, 'Those are thieves.'

Not all is rosy on the net, though. The members of the loony left at Democrat Underground (or is it Democratic Underground now?) are busy citing one another's posts as "proof" that a vast, right-wing conspiracy is behind the "alleged" capture of Saddam Hussein. Or perhaps the capture of a body-double. Or that he was captured long-ago and only brought out now as a propaganda ploy. Or that he is a body-double brought out as a propaganda ploy. Or.... Meanwhile, on the main page ("weekend edition"), not a single headline about the capture of Saddam Hussein appears...over 12 hours after it became a confirmed event. Apparently the staff at DU is too busy manning support hotlines (or perhaps even calling them) to spin the news of the capture of Saddam Hussein.

At the liberal media outlets, stories about the celebrations in Iraq always seemed to include a dissenting voice, real or imagined:

• This is bad news to all Iraqis," said Ammar Zidan, 21. "Even if they captured Saddam Hussein, we are all Saddam Hussein. We want freedom and independence from the Americans. —AP news article by Christopher Torchia.

• But for some, his capture was a blow to hopes for Saddam's triumphant return, and his peaceful surrender was seen as a stain on Arab honor.—Dafna Linzer editorializing in another AP "news" article.

• "The Americans have the misfortune of dealing with the most vicious people in the world. There is a new resistance developing independent of Saddam," said Abdelatif Juma.—Reuters news article by Khaled Yacoub Oweis.

• "I only wish it was not the Americans who got him," said a Syrian student, Abdule-Nasser, according to Reuters. "I don't like Saddam but as an Arab I wouldn't like to see them dragging him around Baghdad." —New York Times article titled "Arabs' Welcome of Arrest Is Tinged With Regret".

• But by no means were most Iraqis openly happy to see Saddam Hussein, their cruel father-figure for more than three decades, in the hands of the Americans, reports CBS News Correspondent Kimberly Dozier. —CBS (and AP) "news" article in which no poll data was reported to support the use of the word "most".

Aside from the Saddam loyalists, the American left and other America-hating groups, this is great news for the entire world. Iraq's future is brighter and more assured. The demonstrations last week in Iraq supporting Democracy, coupled with this event, will provide a major boost to the Iraqi interim government and will go a long way to ensuring that a stable, free Iraq emerges next year.

Who wants to be an Iraqi millionaire?!

Iraqis poured into the streets to celebrate the capture of Saddam Hussein.

...not a single headline about the capture of Saddam Hussein appears (at Democrat Underground)

Aside from the Saddam loyalists, the American left and other America-hating groups, this is great news for the entire world.