Statements made so far in the American press regarding Hussein's death:

"Over more than two decades of authoritarian rule, Hussein led his nation from modernity to ruin"

- the Washington Post, Dec. 29, 2006

"The defiant despot oppressed Iraq for more than 30 years"

- the New York Times, Dec. 29, 2006

And this story, which I haven't quite forgotten since I first read it (and which doesn't really tell a story of ruin or oppression):

AUDIENCES pack theatre halls, poets pen new collections, and Iraq's National Philharmonic orchestra plays with the dedication of the quartet aboard the Titanic. Baghdad is witnessing a cultural revival. “We have to keep busy, always busy,” says a local UN staffer, anxious for projects to keep war from her mind.

In recent weeks a splurge of new art galleries have opened, replete with cafés where writers discuss Voltaire, and actors argue over the patriotism of performing Shakespeare ... The car-parks buzz with parties, as lovers queue at the steps of hotels to get married, lest next week be too late. Unbowed, the Baghdad Museum this week staged a conference on the renovation of the country's 10,000 archaeological sites. “Good for morale,” say the organisers. A swansong, say others ...

... With so much bitterness, and so many guns, Iraqis fear that if central authority breaks down, the wrong surname, not to mention the wrong creed, could cost them their lives ...

... The mosques and churches are packed with believers seeking a more metaphysical refuge. Do Iraqis see life after death? A brave play opened this week in Baghdad depicting a post-war Iraq in which the daughter of a soldier killed in battle grows up to make a living as a dancer in a seedy night-club. “It represents the American dream for Iraq,” says the playwright, Abdel Khalaq Karim. “When it's all over, what will we think we have lost?”

- the Economist, Feb. 27, 2003