For those hoping the capture of Saddam Hussein may knock the wind out of the sails of the guerrillas, military analysts are seeing that's likely wishful thinking. In fact, experts claim the violence against Americans may increase.
In Iraq, revenge is a dish best served hot. Where the guerrillas may lose steam is in the loss of funding.
Still, turning the hearts and minds of the suicide bombers is not a true option. Nor is it the ultimate goal. The goal in Iraq, now as before, must be to pump confidence and courage into the Iraqi people — people who have been treated like chattel for so long the notions of free will and self-determination seem even more foreign to them than the coalition forces.
The United States is not there to tug Iraq into the 21st century. It is there to create a stable atmosphere where the natural, human longing for freedom of expression, religion and information can take root and sprout.
The long-term goal is to produce a harvest of forward-thinking leaders.
And on that front, the images of the dreaded "Butcher of Baghdad," flushed out of a pit like a snake and being groomed like a pet monkey, should help draw the Iraqi people from their own "spider holes" and urge them off of the fences and onto the side of a better future. Not since the capture of Charles Manson has a leader looked more like a fallen prophet than the deposed "Thief of Baghdad."
And though Saddam's capture electrified the world (in a poll Sunday 95 percent said they had heard about it), the moment will not be the turning point that many hope. In fact, it may turn out to be simply one more brick in the structure of a new Iraq.
As for politics on this side of the world, Saddam's apprehensions don't seem to have quelled America's apprehension about the war. Americans are looking for evidence of progress and an eventual diminishing of the violence there.
Saddam is a scoundrel.
His capture has put a new charge into the effort to win the peace. American soldiers are buoyed, as are Iraqi progressives.
Like a rush of adrenaline, however, the boost will eventually wear off. Emotion will only carry you so far. After that, as always, true victory in Iraq — like any victory worth its salt — will depend on the long-term virtues of commitment, skill, faith, strength and character.