Major discoveries provide valuable insight

With the veil of secrecy lifted on Saddam Hussein's regime, there have been innumerable and invaluable discoveries unearthed about the despot's three decades of tyranny. Here's a list of just a few of the things that U.S. forces have found in recent days:

Saddam Hussein for years had been harboring the Palestinian terrorist Abul Abbas, who was captured by U.S. authorities last week. Not only does this present the opportunity to bring Abbas to justice for the heartless murder of Leon Klinghoffer abroad the cruise ship Achille Lauro in 1985, it also offers the chance to find out what Abbas may know about the terrorist activities of his protector in Baghdad. Abbas may also have some unsettling information about his longtime friend, Yasser Arafat.

POWs that were rescued last week gave accounts of being severely beaten and interrogated while blindfolded, clear violations of the Geneva Convention.

Seven of the 55 Iraqi officials wanted by the United States have been apprehended. Most recently, Iraqi's former scientific research and higher education minister was taken into U.S. custody as well as the deputy head of the Tribal Affairs Office. These men will no doubt be interrogated to glean insight into lingering questions about Saddam Hussein's activities and whereabouts. Unfortunately, more horror stories are forthcoming.

Despite some protests that the coalition hasn't found weapons of mass destruction yet, an Iraqi scientist has told a U.S. military team that Iraq had destroyed chemical weapons and biological warfare equipment only days before the war began. The scientists also told the team that Iraq had sent unconventional weapons and technology to Syria beginning in the mid-1990s and that Iraq had more recently been cooperating with al-Qaida. Those weapons, or more proof that they existed, is going to turn up.

The trappings and underpinnings of Saddam Hussein's regime show a lavish lifestyle, made possible on the backs of the Iraqi people. Despite claims of Islamic piety, garish mansions and palaces hid American computers, whiskey, pornography and pop music. Regime leaders drove big automobiles and enjoyed Olympic-size swimming pools and big-screen TVs. They couldn't escape with it all. More than $650 million in bank notes was found last week in four woodland cottages. While the Iraqi people starved, one of Saddam Hussein's banks had $1 billion in gold.

On Monday, the leader of a U.S.-backed Iraqi opposition group said Saddam Hussein remains in Iraq and is moving around the country. Finding him would offer the closure sought by many Americans and others around the world.

With what we now know, much of the debate that existed before the war began has collapsed along with Saddam Hussein's regime.