Among Arabs, Embarrassment Over the Surrender of a Figure Who Once Defied the West

Across the Arab world, reaction to the capture of Saddam Hussein ranged from joy to frustration, according to this New York Times article. That Saddam was captured with no resistance – despite having weapons at his side – shocked and embarrassed many who had for decades looked to him as a leader of anti-foreign resistance for the region. "He did not fight like his sons; he went like a dog or a cave man, so [people] feel sorry more for Arab pride than for the man," says one Saudi Arabian newspaper editor. Some were skeptical that the man shown on television and in the papers was actually Saddam Hussein. In Egypt, one student at the American University of Cairo found the news more credible, but was ambivalent as to its meaning for the Middle East. "My bitterness over the fact that he was captured by Americans overwhelms any joy that he was arrested," he said. – YaleGlobal