For us who are used to living in freedom and democracy it is hard to imagine the power of fear in a dictatorship, particularly one as brutal as Saddam�s.
One flicker of dissent, one questioning of your leader�s actions is enough to lead to the torture and murder of you and your entire family. You keep your head down.
That was the reality of Iraq for 25 years. For the Marsh Arabs in the south and the Kurds in the north, simply existing was enough to incur the murderous wrath of the Iraqi tyrant.
Now, the surviving relatives and friends of those who fill Iraq�s mass graves, the Iranians and Kuwaitis killed in the wars Saddam started and all his other victims will be able to see justice done.
The psychological impact on the Iraqi people will be huge. As long as Saddam was still at large, there were many people who genuinely feared we might abandon them and he might come back.
Remnants of his regime and terrorists from outside Iraq who hate the idea of freedom will continue to cause trouble, but the Iraqi people will have fresh confidence as they rebuild their country and establish democracy.
Within hours of Saddam�s capture the airwaves here were full of arm chair experts pontificating about what should be done with Saddam.
He should be tried by the United Nations (even though they don�t want to do it) or some international court, they said.
Why can�t we leave it to the Iraqi people to decide what to do with Saddam? They were his main victims. Haven�t they been dictated to for quite long enough?
