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Wednesday, April 9th, 2003.
Not exactly a day the Ba'ath Party will fondly remember, I reckon.
For Joe-six-Ba'ath, the day started out bad enough -- wondering if 4 JDAMS forced major personnel changes at top level management, whether Baghdad's Poison Gas & Electric Shock CEO Saddam Hussein was even alive, or got downsized into bits and pieces by GPS corporate raiders. Anyway, after serving with distinction a quarter century, things were getting a tad too hot under the collar for Saddam of late.
The day was all downhill from there.
By noon, crowds of jubilant locals gathered in central Baghdad, and, as an expression of wholehearted gratitude to Saddam for 25 wonderful years of generosity and public service, toppled Saddam's landmark statute in Firdos Square, smashing it to pieces, dragging its severed head across Arab streets, as tears of sadness streamed down the glum faces of folks over at CNN, al-Jazeera West.
"'Good, good, Bush!' chanted applauding crowds in the northern district of Hababiyah as a U.S. Marine convoy swept by, while there was jubilation...in the teeming Shi'ite suburb of Saddam City," reports Agence France-Presse.
"'Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Bush,' said another man to television crews, referring to U.S. President George W. Bush," adds AFP.
Stunned and horrified at scenes in Baghdad signaling a power vacuum as Saddam's regime crumbles, Ba'ath Party loyalist Christianne Amanpour complained about a power vacuum in Baghdad as Saddam's regime crumbles. Bush, CNN's Fedayeenie insinuated, should at least have had the decency of giving Saddam a crack at a smooth transition of power.
The Arab Street had ignited!
"So what does this (power vacuum in Baghdad) mean...for the Iraqi people," asked C-Span host Steve Scully Wednesday morning, "And, more significantly possibly, (what does it mean) for the U.S. government that is trying to rebuild Iraq in the post-Saddam era?"
"Well, I think in both cases it means they've got to do something to fill that [power vacuum]," replied Fedayeenie Andrew Mosher of the Washington Post, adding "The Iraqi people need something like the rule of law in their country. They can't just have their government taken away from them, bad as it was, clearly in terms of repression and so forth, and have nothing to take its place..."
Yeah, can't you just hear Iraqis crying out, 'Hey, guys, bad as it was, we really miss the repression and so forth! Can't have nothing to take its place! What's the hold up? Bring back the gassing and ethnic cleansing, now!'
Meanwhile, back in Baghdad, with Saddam's fate uncertain -- alive or JDAM-ed? -- the Ba'ath boys decided now is as good a time as any to take a little time off, getaway for a bit. Torture chamber work, say Ba'athists, can be mighty thrilling, and easier than ever, what, with all the new tools Saddam has made available. Hand-chopping and tongue-pulling is now a snap, Ba'athists will tell you. But after several thousand hand-choppings, even torture work can lose its glitter for weary Ba'athists.
For Democrats, the scenes in Baghdad -- Saddam's demise, cheerful crowds, U.S. Troops hailed as liberators -- was their ultimate nightmare scenario unfolding.
"If you are a Ba'ath Party loyalist," MSNBC's Lester Holt wondered, "what's left for you? You don't want to be among that crowd right now, the U.S. is not your friend, so what becomes of those who had become the symbols of this regime...?"
Good question, Lester, though I doubt regime remnants like Nancy Pelosi and other die-hards are likely to defect from Saddam even now. Indeed, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, another wacky Fedayeenie Democrat, also appearing on C-Span, angrily denounced the war, even with crowds cheering us in Baghdad, all but calling it imperialism.

The New York Times, to be fair, did manage to get one thing right. The war did fuel even greater hatred and resentment towards the United States. Greater hatred and resentment at the New York Times, that is.
President Bush, his courageous stance on Iraq vindicated thoroughly by events, emerges even more formidable from this, his shrill detractors more discredited than ever.
While tough battles may yet lie ahead, the doubting Thomases will find it difficult to argue with success.
God bless our President, God bless our Troops and God bless the United States of America!
My two cents...
"JohnHuang2"