Baghdad falls: Iraqis erupt ("Come see, this is freedom! OH PEOPLE! THIS IS FREEDOM!")

Scientific American | April 10 2003 | Paul McGeough, Herald Correspondent in Baghdad

[John_11_25]

I wonder how they are going to explain how it went from a "Hollywood movie" to cheering Iraqi's in central Baghdad in less than 12 hours? .

From what I saw it still is a a Hollywood movie in Baghdad. The Allies are still only in control of half of the city and how many people came out to celebrate, the camera had to zoom in make it look like a lot of people.

Considering Baghdad is home to 5 million people, the amount of people on the streets was embarrasing to say the least and I know these reporters have been through hell the last few days, but to compare it to the liberation of Paris or Berlin, or as Rummy said today, the downing of the Berlin Wall is just laughable.

What they should be concerned about is the missing Republican Guard that never materialised. I worked in a number of countries in the middle east and these people can turn on a dime. They will welcome you with open arms one moment and stab you in the back in the next.

The jovial nature of the occasion may let the allies drop their guard for a moment, this could prove fatal.

[I'm ALL Right!]

I cannot wait to see Janeane Garafolo crawl on broken glass to apologize to the President! (Won't happen).

[driftless]

I'm a regular lurker on that garbage heap of a website and I guarantee you that you could penetrate the gloom there with a knife. Most of those lefty nuts were openly hoping for our defeat and huges losses for our troops. The patriotic Dems on that site have had a fine time ridiculing the reality-challenged lefties who are now sulking in silence. The news reports of further repression of dissidents in Cuba by their beloved hero Castro has them depressed also. The proportion of far leftists to moderate Dems on that site is about five to one. I just hope those moderate Dems finally get a clue about the state of their party. The Dems have substantially tilted into the delirium of the anti-American far left. An election of any of the current Dem prez candidates would be disaster for the U.S. Lieberman is about the only one who supported Bush and Blair in this conflict. The rest, including Kerry, are severely out of touch with the average American.

[MeekOneGOP]

I love that pic. The site that hosts that I have noticed the pics 'die' after a while (weeks or months).

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20030409/capt.1049901490.war_us_iraq_northern_front_sulf102.jpg

I saved that image (uploaded it) on my site. If you want to use it or keep it for a back up, the URL is:

http://home.attbi.com/~mrgrumman/IraqiKissBush.JPG

[Bigg Red]

Thank you so much for that picture of the Iraqi kissing the picture of Bush. I love it!

[Hildy]

There are so many loonies, but once in a while there is a light even among the most diehard of them. Check this out in response to a post asking why there were so few Iraqis out on the street.

Yes, those are small crowds, but imagine living your entire existence under the thumb of a brutal dictator, and then imagine the world's greatest military power bombarding your existence for over three weeks. You might be a little frightened to venture out into the streets, you might be a woman, you might be in mourning for your own family members who were killed in the bombings. As anyone who has read my posts before knows, I hate this war, I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat, and I stand firmly against the Bush Junta in our own country, but I am not so jaded that I can't feel happiness and joy and even shed a few tears that the Iraqi people are slowly being freed from the grip of Saddam Hussein. He was an evil prick. I've got a pretty strong BS detector, but I won't allow all the U.S. propaganda we can dish to jade me into being upset about this moment. I do think that the statue coming down in the center of Baghdad was an authentic thing, and I'm pleased for the one good outcome of the war: Saddam is finished.

Flame me if you want, but I'm thrilled for Iraqis, I'm proud of our soldiers, I cry for the innocents killed both by our regime and Saddam's, and I pray that we won't be fighting the "new boss" in the next 20 years or so.

[Heatseeker]

The used wheeled office chairs to push their loot away into the suburbs while some guarded their booty on street corners, waiting for family vehicles to return to collect it.

One of them said: "This is our peace dividend."

LOL! I never thought I'd be happy to see looters, but live and learn. This guy has a career waiting for him in standup comedy over here. Maybe we can get Jeanine Garofalo to move to North Korea to open up a job slot for him.

[Dead Dog]

I Love the ducks, but they've got to get a pass rush.

[Plutarch]

US officers said there was still some resistance - small and disorganized, but fierce...

Fierce. From the start of this war to its end in a whimper, everything and anything the least bit non-friendly was described by the media as fierce.

What exactly would non-fierce resistance consist of? If the Battle of Kursk was "fierce", does a ragged irregular taking a pot shot with an AK-47 qualify as well?

Since the commentators don't know a Tomahawk missile from a Bradley Fighting Vehicle, it all looks "fierce" to them.

[snopercod]

Did you notice that the Iriqis took off with the chain? It was still around the neck of the statue as they dragged the head down the street.

[ottersnot]

Next Poster: "How can you be reelected when you were never elected." I guess that means he can run twice more.

Dead, that's just awesome. Where can I get my W2008 t shirt!!!. ROFLMAO snot.

[maranatha]

When I first saw on the news the Iraqi kissing the picture of President Bush with Heroe of the Peace, I was so excited and now I find the photo of it here to save for my files. I prayed that God would have that picture shown over and over on tv, papers etc. all over the world.

When this is all over I want that Latino soldier from New Jersey who danced on his vehicle and had the Iraqi kids dancing with him interviewed on TV. MSNBC asked him to come to their studios when he got home. They asked him if he wanted to say anything to his family back home and he started with, "Whazzup Dad? Whazzup Mom?...." He said his dad was crazy fun.

[RonF]

I, too, think soccer is a fine sport. It keeps my son in running shape for Lacrosse.

[dead]

Fierce observation!

[JohnBovenmyer]

Karl Rove needs this "HERO of the PEACE" picture!

[Reactionary]

I love it, too. This is a great day for America and for everything this decent, wonderful country stands for.

[TaRaRaBoomDeAyGoreLostToday!]

Wed Apr 9, 1:12 PM ET

U.S. Army Spc. John Dresel from Oxford, Conn. is kissed by an Iraqi child in Baghdad Wednesday, April 9, 2003. The soldiers from the A Company 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment took over a section of northern Baghdad with a warm welcome from many residents, but under sporadic rocket and small arms fire. (AP Photo/John Moore)

[EternalVigilance]

I'm sure he's seen it.

[kimchi lover]

FREEDOM BUMP!

[kimchi lover]

__...where women definately take a submissive role.__ You say that like it's a bad thing.

"Depends on what you mean by 'submissive' and what side of that equation you are on."

Ain't that the truth!