A national leader has been seized and taken into custody by a foreign power.

The shocking news out of Venezuela a few days ago calls to mind the image of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein (1937-2006) after he was captured in December 2003 by U.S. forces.

Hussein appeared disheveled and unkempt, with a long, thick graying beard and tangled, shoulder-length hair.

Claiming that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, U.S. and British forces invaded the Middle Eastern country and, after an intensive, months-long manhunt, eventually found the deposed Iraqi leader hiding in a small underground hideout and dragged him into the light.

At the time, Washington and London cited earlier U.N. Security Council resolutions as their........

© The Asahi Shimbun