What impact would the capture of Saddam Hussein by the US troops on the night of December 13, 2003, have onthe ground situation in Iraq? Would it lead to a petering out of the resistance movement and the acts ofterrorism against the coalition troops, their Iraqi collaborators and foreign organisations? Would it weakenthe Iraqi opposition to the occupation of Iraq by the US and allied troops? Would it mark the beginning of thereturn of normalcy in Iraq?