WHY NOT TO CATCH THE HUSSEIN ALIVE

I doubt Saddam will ever be captured alive. Getting him alive may mean a lengthy and public trial and there are too many people involved with possible fear of such event. Imagine this:

Mr. Hussein, did you attack Iran with chemical weapons?

Yes, you supplied them to me, plus strategic and considerable intelligence as where their troops were and how I could use them more effectively.

Mr. Hussein, did you invade Kuwait without reason?

Yes, I told you I was going to and you all said you will look the other way.

Mr. Hussein, did you murder thousands of your regimes opponents?

Of course I did. Don't you remember we were friends while I was doing it?

SADDAM'S SONS

I'll be the last person to defend either one of Saddam's sons, although they'll never be tried so the extent of their possible crimes will never be proven. Of course their opponents have much to present in alleged atrocities contributed to them, but all stories have two sides and even a possible crazy mass-murderer tyrant deserves his/her day in court.

Now, let me see if I got this right. All accounts point to their cousin, the homeowner they had been hiding with, approaching the U.S. command and basically turning them in. Supposedly he had his wife and daughters leave the property that morning, then surrendered with his son as soon as the troops got there.

Apparently the higher ups were told who the targets are, although the front line troops had no idea (as it should be). So, the $30 million guy spills who is hiding at his house and probably offers more details as to how many guards they have and how well they are armed.

Now the U.S. army command knows there's only one guard, plus a 14 year old boy and the two targets. They also knew no heavy weaponry is present and they only had personal firearms and maybe grenades. Now you surround the house and as is usual vacate the vicinity. Homeowner and his son come out, confirming who is left inside (if you had any doubts). You are the commander in charge, what do you do?

As for me, I'd just camp out and wait. Where are they going to go? You have two of the three top targets of this entire operations inside a house. You know they have no heavy weaponry. You know there is no escape tunnel or similar, as the homeowner surely supplied a floor plan. There's limited food and water in the house and what is there as for utilities, etc. can be cut off from outside. I'd bring in extra enforcements, secure a solid perimeter and wait it out. They either commit suicide or give themselves up. There are no other options and in both case you come ahead.

But no, this is not how the cowboy mentality works. The cowboy only wants to conquer, overpower and destroy, just ask the native communities of North America. Everyone wants to be their own one-man terminator and use full force, regardless of if it is the best choice or not. Or perhaps them coming out alive wasn't such an attractive possibility anyways. We may never know now. So, out come the missiles, rockets and other explosives, combined with heavy fire and at the end, four severely damaged bodies are left.

Volumes of knowledge and unique information, destroyed forever. Best possible scenario? Doubt it.
The display of bodies was just repulsive, also. Particularly the bone out of the leg and autopsy cuts. This was a new low for this or any war. If you have people not believing your word, maybe it is a good time to look at your past conduct and find out how you lost your credibility and maybe fix it. Not try to prove a fact by using ghastly displays. Besides, as we have all seen, such conduct will only backfire as non-believers will not be convinced and the rest are just appalled.

One last note, Saddam's father was Hussein (whose father was Majid from Tikrit, thus his full name of Saddam Hussein Al-Majid Al-Tikriti). So, how western centric is our media to even assume the entire world uses the western style first name, last name system and calls them Odai and Qusai Hussein.