Iraqis celebrate their liberation:

[RonOnGuitar]

And clueless naysayers actually believed these folks would choose to live under the constant torture and mass murder of the Saddam dictatorship! (note in bold & red lettering whom the Iraqi people consider their oppressor along with the rest of Hussein's willing henchmen.)

Ron

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A statue of Saddam Hussein is toppled in Baghdad.

Photo: AP



· Statue toppled in central Baghdad

· Crowds cheer US marines



Tania Branigan, Mark Oliver, Sarah Left and agencies

Wednesday April 9, 2003



Iraqis were tonight celebrating the end of 30 years of brutal rule by Saddam Hussein as American troops were greeted by cheering crowds in Baghdad.

As the US vice-president, Dick Cheney, declared that President Saddam's regime was over, jubilant Iraqis gathered in one of the capital's main squares to watch as US troops toppled a giant statue of Saddam.



Iraqis had earlier attacked the base of the 20ft (six metre) statue's plinth with a sledgehammer.



US central command in Qatar warned that "downtown Baghdad remains dangerous", and predicted that days of stiff fighting lie ahead in northern Iraq and Saddam's hometown of Tikrit.



TV pictures showed Iraqis welcoming US forces, and there were also reports of Iraqis celebrating in Kurdish areas of northern Iraq.



These included the city of Irbil, 220 miles north of Baghdad, and the Guardian's Luke Harding, in Sulaimaniya, also witnessed scenes of jubilation.



"Everybody has poured out onto the street and there are scenes of total chaos and sheer, sheer delight," he said.



"Thousands of people are in the streets celebrating. They believe Iraq is liberated. They believe that Saddam Hussein is finished."



In Baghdad, the UN headquarters and shops near the Olympic Committee's building were ransacked, as were military installations, the secret police headquarters, government buildings and research institutions.



There were also signs that Iraq's efforts to sustain its public relations campaign were collapsing after government-employed journalists' minders failed to turn up for their work.



Uncensored reports by foreign reporters began to come from the capital, and Iraqi state television was off the air.



The action followed one of quietest nights in Baghdad since the conflict began. US troops advanced on central Baghdad from the south-west of the city.



http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,933233,00.html