Commander Defends Killing of Brothers

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP)

By killing Odai and Qusai Hussein instead of capturing them, U.S. forces lost a chance to expose the inner workings of Saddam's regime, provide clues to the dictator's whereabouts and yield intelligence on anti-American guerrilla operations. ---

On the streets of Baghdad, where gunfire broke out in celebration of the deaths, residents said Wednesday they wished American forces had captured Odai and Qusai alive — ready to stand trial, face their victims and suffer punishment for the horrors they inflicted on Iraq. ---

So why not wait longer, use tear gas, set up a siege, Sanchez was asked. He responded with visible irritation. Waiting the brothers out had been considered, he said, "but we chose the course of action that we took." He refused to take a follow-up question from the reporter.

L. Paul Bremer, Washington's top official in Iraq, suggested he didn't care whether Saddam, his sons or others on the American most-wanted list were taken dead or alive.

"The sooner we can either kill him or capture him, the better," Bremer said when asked during a "Meet the Press" appearance Sunday.

Some experts disagreed. ---

Killing them gives G.W. Bush a much needed boost in polls for dispensing instant justice to the black-hatted bad guys.

WMDs? Inner workings? Who cares!

Bush will plant the WMDs when no one is looking.

Besides, Saddam makes a better boogeyman on the run. He's easier to deal with than Osama-what's-his-name and nasty enough to satisfy the American sheeple that good has triumphed over evil.

all else is just messy details to be spun away or manipulated to Bush's advantage when the time is right.

the question is why. the sensible course of action would be to capture and interrogate them. find out where Saddam is. find out where the WMD's are. put them on trial to answer for their crimes. and yet Bush preferred them dead. WHY?

things that could prove how phony is Bush's causis belli, imo. They are tying up loose ends. Dead men tell no tails. A rolling stone....stop me I'm in cliche hell....

UP to $15 million, IF alive. If dead, you get this lovely parting gift certificate to Hooters.