Saddam Hussein's capture and the hope he will be held accountable for crimes against the people of Iraq and neighboring states is welcome news, no matter what one's position on the U.S. invasion of Iraq. 

But this doesn't vindicate the U.S. invasion. It doesn't change the fact that the administration lied about Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction or that Iraq is undergoing occupation, not liberation. 

Nor does it vindicate more longstanding U.S. policy. It is crucial that Saddam's eventual trial covers the entire history of his crimes and of those who supported them. We need answers. Why did the Reagan administration provide Saddam with military intelligence to help him in his savage attacks on Iran in the 1980s? Why did U.S. companies provide Iraq with chemicals and seed stock for biological weapons? Why did the United States continue to fund Saddam and provide him diplomatic cover, even after he gassed the Kurds of Halabja in 1988? 

And, what did current Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld say to Saddam when he met with the dictator as Reagan's special envoy to the Middle East in 1983? Will Rumsfeld be subpoenaed to testify about it? 

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If Saddam's trial is conducted openly and honestly, U.S. crimes in Iraq and throughout the Middle East, through Republican and Democratic administrations alike, will be laid bare for the world to see. 

More important, however, we must recognize that the key issue is the occupation, not Saddam. There is little indication that either the brutality of the U.S. occupation, or the armed resistance to it, will end soon. 

Military officials have quietly admitted for months that Saddam had little to do with coordinating the resistance. London's Independent newspaper identified at least 12 different loosely connected guerilla groups, only one of which could be identified as Saddam loyalists. Most of the people fighting never had any love for Saddam; one British expert has referred to the resistance as "self-generating." 

The fighters likely have various motivations, but they share a common goal: ending foreign occupation. After last month's running battles in Samarra, where U.S. forces killed dozens, one Iraqi said, "Everyone is with the resistance. Saddam Hussein is finished. We are protecting our honor and our land."