Free Republic

<p>The capture of Saddam Hussein boosted confidence among Americans polled Sunday, most of whom agreed the Iraqi war was worth fighting and the search for weapons of mass destruction would be successful.</p> <p>The respondents also were confident that Iraq would establish a stable government and that the United States would find al Qaeda terror leader Osama bin Laden.</p>

The 20-day ground offensive that ended with the fall of Baghdad April 9th to US forces was characterized as much by the level-headed courage of the men who fought it as by its speed and brilliance of execution. Its signature finish - the felling of Saddam Hussein's statue in downtown Baghdad - was celebrated in the streets of the city by thousands of Iraqis who drew that day the first breaths of freedom they had breathed in three decades. Yet, for those standing in the streets of the city that bright April day, it was clear that the war...