How We Got Saddam

'Don't shoot,' the bearded, submissive man said to the soldiers. He was Saddam Hussein, hiding in a hole, the man the Pentagon called 'High Value Target Number One.' The story of his capture--and what's next.

Time has more on the actual capture, as does AFP.

Notes from Saddam in Custody

Saddam is talking, but he isn't cooperative. Here are new details on his capture and his first interrogation.

New Iraqi Leaders Confront Their Former Dictator

The wild gray beard was gone, and he sat on a metal Army cot, just awake from a nap, in socks and black slippers. He was not handcuffed. He did not recognize all his visitors, but they recognized him. That was the purpose of the visit: to help confirm that this was, in fact, Saddam Hussein.

Iraqis React

As news of his capture spread across the country, celebratory shooting erupted in Baghdad's streets, soldiers cheered and victims of his tyranny thanked the United States. Many said it marked a new beginning for Iraq.

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.

The Washington Post covers reaction in the town where Saddam was captured.

World Hopes Hussein's Capture Will Ease Iraq's Woes

Supporters and critics of the U.S.-led war in Iraq expressed joy and relief throughout the world Sunday over the capture of deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein along with the hope that his seizure would help restore stability to the country.

Lawmakers Eye Capture Reaction in Iraq

Members of Congress urged the Bush administration on Sunday to use Saddam Hussein's capture as an opportunity to internationalize the war effort in Iraq.

Analysis: Capture has few intel gains

Although the capture might convince former regime officials, who Iraqi resistance forces say are involved in organizing the attacks, to cooperate with U.S. forces if captured as they no longer need fear his wrath, it seems unlikely Saddam has any meaningful information on current operations.

How much will it matter?

Coalition officials and senior Iraqis hail the capture as removing a deep-rooted fear among many Iraqis that the man who ruled here for 24 years could one day return to power. It's also a major blow to the morale of Baathists in the Iraqi insurgency. But military analysts warn this isn't yet the end of the attacks on US troops and its allies.

Capture to Give Big Lift to Bush, Analysts Say

How big a political lift will President Bush derive from the capture of Saddam Hussein?

Very big indeed, said several political scientists, who used words like "huge," "enormous" and "profound."

Saddam to face war crimes tribunal

Saddam Hussein will get a fair trial before a war crimes tribunal that was approved just last week, members of the Iraqi Governing Council said Sunday.

Reuters and the Washington Post have more on trial prospects.

Captured Iraqi tip led to final push on Saddam

One Iraqi taken into custody and interrogated in recent days gave U.S. authorities the lead that captured Saddam Hussein, ending an intense manhunt for the former Iraqi leader since the fall of Baghdad in April, U.S. officials say.

"The most recent final endgame was from one captured person who provided a lead which led them to that location," a U.S. official told Reuters on Sunday on condition of anonymity. The captured Iraqi was not identified.

Saddam's wife helped locate him

Well-informed Lebanese sources said today that former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's second wife supplied the US with "some information" about where her husband was hiding in Iraq.

Apparent DNA Identification of Saddam a Hurry-Up Job

A DNA test like the one that apparently helped confirm Saddam Hussein's identity can be done in as little as 12 hours, a forensics expert says.

TV Networks Move Quickly on Saddam News

TV networks move quickly to report Saddam's capture and relay powerful images of Hussein in custody.

Code name from '84 movie

"Operation Red Dawn," the code name for the US raid which resulted in the capture of Saddam Hussein, appears to have been inspired by a 1984 film in which US teenagers battle a Soviet invasion of the United States.

In Saddam's Hometown, U.S. 4th Infantry Soldiers Take a Victory Lap, and Wage Graffiti War

Soldiers from the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division, who all but missed the invasion of Iraq but have been at the front line of postwar hostilities, spent Sunday afternoon smoking cigars after scoring the allies' biggest triumph since the fall of Baghdad.

After Saddam's supporters sprayed dozens of walls and suitable surfaces with slogans "Long live Saddam," one patrol added Sunday: "In jail forever."

Palestinians Mark 'Black Day' of Saddam Capture

Disbelief and gloom seized many Palestinians on Sunday at news of Saddam Hussein's capture while Israel, which came under Iraqi Scud missile attack in the 1991 Gulf War, hailed the United States for capturing Saddam.

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and his government made no comment. But Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi, a senior leader of the militant Hamas group, said the United States would "pay a very high price for the mistake'' of capturing Saddam.

Professor Juan Cole comments.

OxBlog receives an interesting email from Nasiriyah.