Who Needs This? A "top Vatican official," Cardinal Renato Martino, weighs in on Saddam's capture:

A top Vatican official said Tuesday he felt pity and compassion for Saddam Hussein and criticized the U.S. military for showing video footage of him being treated "like a cow."

Boo f*cking hoo, of course. Treated like a prisoner (and, rather unfortunately, a human being) is more to the point. To offer him that dignity is in fact a tribute to the United States and its armed forces, who could have shot him on sight with supreme moral justification, as far as I'm concerned.

"It's true that we should be happy that this (arrest) has come about because it is the watershed that was necessary... we hope that this will not have worse and other serious consequences," Martino said.

"But it is not the total solution to the problems of the Middle East," he said

No, that was what the Crusades were for, eh, Cardinal?

The Roman Catholic Church continues in its centuries-long struggle to be the most morally un-serious institution in the world. Take hope, Cardinal. Buggering little boys and covering up for it at the highest levels is not quite as bad as the mass murder Saddam was up to. But look on the bright side: You're still in power, and he's not.