[Skunk]

I don't think they'll be martyrs to the vast majority of Iraqi citizens. They killed and tortured way to many people for that. Most every family was affected.

I couldn't agree with you more - BUT, outside Iraq, their reputations just went up.

"They refused to surrender to the aggressors and died bravely defending their land - a lesson to us all"

will be the rallying cry - and their crimes will be forgotten or written off as
"Dirty American lies and propaganda."

Had they appeared before an Iraqi judge and an Iraqi jury and were tried on the basis of the testimonies of the Iraqi witnesses to their crimes - such statements would be impossible to maintain.

And as for a Wild West Show, from what I've heard on the news, once the people in the house saw they were surrounded, THEY were the ones that started shooting. I was told here at work that when the Americans stormed the house after 4 or 5 hours of shooting there was still someone firing back at them.

I'm not one for emotive phrases like 'Wild West Show' either. That said, it was *clear* they were surrounded and unable to leave - so why the hurry to get the 'kill'? Eventually their ammunition, water and food supplies would have run out.

Surely the US army had nice things like CS gas and other non-lethal stuff to throw at them? Instead they used anti-tank missiles - which leads me on to my next point...

As it stands now, the Iraqi people KNOW for certain there can NEVER be another Hussian now.

Are they certain? News crews went around the streets of Bagdad again today and the same statement was constantly repeated:
"I'll believe it when I see the bodies"
Troule is, the bodies are burned beyond recognition and the US is now asking the Iraqi's to take them at their word, and frankly a US diplomat with his hand on his heart saying "honestly, it's true" carries very little weight in the middle east especially in Iraq. That, combined with the fact that the Hussein family has an almost mythical reputation for survival amongst the Iraqis (they've all survived multiple assassination attempts) means that few Iraqis will stop looking over their shoulder when the US says that the "medical records match" - yeah, right...

And it won't stop the growing resistence movement either - it might even inflame it further. Saddam and Co were certainly popular amongst the Suni minority and news of the jnrs deaths will either be discounted or, if believed, be used to stir up a rallying cry for revenge. But the Suni's are not the only ones with an axe to grind against the US.

The Shi'ite majority bear an equal distrust and dislike for the country that so badly betrayed them and, even now, is refusing to hand over power to them. When the US encouraged the Shi'ites to rise up against Saddam with promises of military support and then abandoned them to the slaughter, tens of thousands of their fighters fled into neighbouring Iran for asylum. With Saddam gone, many have come back (and many more are on the way), with the memory of their murdered families and fallen comrades still fresh in their minds - and they blame the US and Saddam equally for their suffering.

So sure, they will be rejoicing at the deaths of Saddam jnrs - but it won't stop their (almost daily) attacks on US troops either.