Well, Saddam is officially no longer in control of his country. (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,83580,00.html)
Where I live-- Dearborn, MI-- we have a lot of Arabs, most notably Iraqis, and there has been celebrating in the streets for the past few hours. It really is quite the scene!
OK, nobody else has said this yet and I think it’s really funny:
When do the Wheys join the Kurds?
Watching Iraqis attack that toppled Saddam statue on television is one of the most moving things I’ve seen in years. Today, as much as ever, I’m proud to be an American, and overjoyed for the new life Iraqis have the chance to embrace. But, of course, there’s still a long way to go though…
I’d like to think of it as Baghdad rising once more and casting off its chains.
Well, so far so good.
Those pictures of the Saddam statue being torn down certainly have the potential of becoming one of the big everlasting pictures of the future - you know, the ones that are in every history book and stuff. Might be difficult to estimate a picture’s career when you’re in the middle of it, but I guess this one will still be remembered in decades.
I came home at 1600 (local time in the Netherlands) and I’ve been glued to the TV ever since.
I’m so very happy! So moved!
In my social circle, most people were against the war and although I could very much appreciate the arguments against it, my main feeling was the damage the Saddam-regime did outweighed them all.
To me, the reactions of the Iraqi people, the smiles, the dancing, the frustration, their lack of fear prove the war has had at least this big, priceless advantage.
I have deep admiration for the respectful way the Coalition has behaved towards the Iraqi’s. Al-Jazeera said just now how they were astonished at the friendliness and the respect between the soldiers of the coalition and the iraqis on the streets. Maybe it’s just today, and the problems will start and comtinue tomorrow. But today is wonderful !
Today, something has been done in such a good way! I can understand you are proud to be American ! You did it!
Man I feel like such a geek, but the first thing I thought about was the end of Return of the Jedi Special Edition where the citizens of Coruscant tore down the statue of the Emperor.
sigh
Me too.
And I’ve had the Ewok celebration music from the original edition playing in my head all freakin’ day.
I work for the local paper here in Dearborn, and when news broke that there were demonstrations in the streets, I was one of the people who went out to cover the events and get reactions from the people.
I’ll tell you, you guys can’t even imagine how happy these people were today. The march started in the northeast end of town, which is the heart of the Arabic business district, and slowly worked its way toward city hall. People were honking their horns, dancing, shouting laughing and crying. I haven’t seen so much red, white and blue in one place since various events right after 9/11. There are also a number of old-school Iraqi flags being waved-- flags without the Arabic writing added by Saddam in 1991. There were also a number of hastily-made posters thanking the U.S. military and the president.
Being in the middle of it all was very moving. The Dearborn Police, who are normally very strict about such impromptu mass demonstrations (which if left unchecked, would be quite common in Dearborn), seemed very willing to allow this one to continue. Police presence was very evident, though.
Dearborn: the next best thing to being in Baghdad!
Happy
I saw stills on cnn.com, and it reminded me of the crowds of people at the Berlin Wall when it fell. It was very touching; it always is when a tyrant falls and people realize that they no longer have to be afraid of said tyrant.
[cynical view]How long before pieces of the statue make it to eBay?[/cv]
[selfish view]This means Airman will be home sooner rather than later![/sv]
Robin
He did, hunny. He contributed to saving lives, Iraqi and Coalition. I honor him for it. You tell him i said that.
We won.
What does the writing say?
Yippee: my cousin the journalist will be home soon, I hope! He’s getting to witness history! I can’t wait to talk to him…
(He always said he had to be home by the time the baby was due in June, or “you wanna talk regime change? There’s gonna be one in my house!”)
“Allahu Akbar” (“God is almighty.”)
Saddam added the words to make it seem as if Iraq was an Islamic state and that the west was attacking Islam, IIRC.
** MsRobyn ** tell Airman thanks for me please.