Stardate 20030413.1152

(On Screen): I think it should have been apparent from the beginning that what would be revealed post-war about Saddam's regime in Iraq would permanently change the discussion about the issues involved.

For instance, the argument that Saddam had no connection to international terrorism is now conclusively proven wrong by the discovery of a major terrorist training camp near Baghdad, as well as the discovery of a major arsenal of explosive suicide vests hidden in a school.

None of that will convince Europe's chattering classes. Neither will stories of children being freed from a special children's prison, or a rising tide of evidence about routine use of torture in Iraq.

However, I think we may have finally found what's needed to make even them recoil in disgust. The message has to be tuned to the audience, after all, and the discovery of what is apparently Saddam's love nest, complete with mirrored bedroom, must surely offend Europe's effete elite. After all, it's just so bloody tacky!

But this home was different: beanbag chairs, a garden of plastic plants, a sunken kitchen and a room for a servant, all 1960s-style.

The sunken wet bar was stocked with 20-year old Italian red wines and expensive cognacs, brandies and Scotch whiskeys, the same brands found in several presidential palaces.

The only thing that was missing was pink plastic flamingos. (And Italian wine? Not French, for God's sake? Who in their right mind would admit to drinking Italian wine in polite company, no matter how good it might actually be?)

It's like something out of Lifestyles of the Unrefined Nouveau Riche or something. With this discovery, Saddam is revealed to Europe's snobs as being even more gauche and tasteless than Americans are.

He's in big trouble now. Yeah, baby!