Humiliation

Bret Stephens has some reflections on the humbling of Saddam:

[O]ne has to wonder whether humiliation is really such a terrible thing if the sight of a bedraggled and meek Saddam being manhandled by a US Army doctor brought Iraqis into the streets to honk their horns and fire their guns in the air. It caused women to faint for joy. It caused one Iraqi to exclaim: "I don't know what to say... I am confused... no... I am very happy... I am very happy... I am very happy... I am very happy... I am very happy... I am very happy... I am very happy... I am very happy... I am very happy...." And so on.
.....
[I]t's about time we all stop treating Iraqis, and Arabs generally, as anything but what they are: Human beings, capable of making rational choices, who, like the rest of us, are accountable for their own successes, their own failures, and their own fates.

(Registration required. Hat tip: MG.)