What to do with Saddam

When Saddam Hussein was captured last year, I opined that perhaps we should shave him bald, paint him bright pink and turn him loose in the streets of Baghdad, and film the results on pay per view. While a somewhat viscerally pleasing solution, I have been forced to change my views.

Instead, I think we should use him as the most extreme bait possible. Consider:

There are still Baathists out there who will do anything for their former dictator. Terrorists formerly on his payroll know that if they were to spring him from whatever high security facility he's stored they would have fnding for life...'cos I'm quite sure Saddam still has a lot of cash squirreled away in some offshore bank, probably a French one.

So. Let's dangle him at the end of a stick. Construct a nice fortified base, and mine the hell out of it. Make a fifty meter perimeter that no man can cross, indeed, the only way in is by helicopter, and only US military helicopters at that. All other aircraft will be warned away, or if it comes to that, shot down. That's easy enough.

The perimeter walls will be guarded by US infantry. There will be guns. There will be mortars pre-sighted to target defilades. (A defilade is a depression or other shallow land feature that prevents direct fire from a prepared position, like a ditch or culvert. Heck, why not make a couple?) On call at all times will be an AC-130 Spectre gunship. In the center of the compound will be the single celled prison holding Saddam, with a maze of twisty passages, all alike. And next to Saddam's cell will be a squad of the meanest, gnarliest Marines with one order: to shoot Saddam in the head if anyone gets through the perimeter. Period.

We'll be mowing them down like wheat for weeks.

Even better, his location can be "leaked" to various individuals who's loyalty are suspect, and see if someone tries something. Every time someone sets off a mine, you know someone talked.

He's just sitting in a cell right now, staring at a wall and someone is probably watching South Park in hearing distance. He's not going anywhere, not doing anything productive. Let's end this thing once and for all and wave the world's most expensive bait out for someone to grab, and then kill them.