response 53 of 140:

Dec 16 19:58 UTC 2003

If there's a lesson to be learned from Saddam's request to negotiate, it's
that in any negotiations it helps to have something to negotiate with. 
Assuming he was really stuck at the bottom of a hole with a bunch of big guns
pointed at him, he was a little late.

Then again, it may have been more a case of, "I want to talk, not shoot, so
please don't shoot me," which sounds quite reasonable.

I'm rather disgusted by all the calls for killing him now.  He's certainly
not somebody I feel strongly about keeping alive, but what would we gain by
killing him, other than a morbid spectacle.