ABC is reporting that Uday Hussein maty have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
As preferable as capturing the two alive might have been, there was simply no way to do it without risking too many lives. Uday and Qusay had barricaded themselves in the upper floors of the house and had already injured 3 US troops in the firefight. They knew that they could not avoid capture, and at least one of them likely committed suicide rather than face capture.
In terms of intelligence, neither Uday nor Qusay could have provided much better intelligence than the high-ranking officials the coalition has already captured. The two were more concerned with killing and raping than actually managing anything. Their value is more symbolic than technical, as they were more a symbol of the regime’s cruelty than a part of its administration.
Meanwhile, the bodies of the two have been positively identified from dental records, and the Pentagon has realeased pictures of the bodies of the two tyrants. (I’ve decided against directly linking to the pictures, although it’s not at all difficult to find them.) No matter what, it is clear that those two will not be returning to power and will not be continuing their reign of terror against the Iraqi people.
UPDATE: It appears as though the rumors of Uday Hussein committing suicide have been proven false.
