Ramy Khoury, editor of the Daily Star in Beirut, Lebanon writes that "a realistic reading of the policy must conclude that the sacking of Baghdad is designed to send signals to all other Middle Eastern and Asian regimes that the U.S. finds annoying, threatening, distasteful, worrisome, or even just a little strange. Khoury explicated what he said are "the new rules of the game now being explained to the world through the televised display of Mesopotamian show-and-tell." "If Washington merely suspects that terrorists may one day emerge from your land, or that you might in future threaten your neighbors, you have only two options: You change course and shape up, or you are finished as a governing regime. If you behave as Baghdad behaved, defying the new rules of the game, you suffer the same fate as Baghdad is suffering." http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A64349-2003Apr9?language=printer
Kymar, I can tell you that the Iranian government's pants are thoroughly soaked. They are walking on egg shells and they know it. The power struggle between the moderates and hard liners has an even more weighty significance. Nothing less than the future of the regime.
In Our Name This is a truly historic moment, LGF readers. To the naked protesters, the Hollywood whiners, the Indymedia haters, the BBC and CNN and MSNBC and Al Jazeera and Arab News: This moment is IN OUR NAME. Those who sought to keep the Iraqi people in their living hell, who stood in the way of their liberation, and insisted that the US and Britain and Australia and our many other partners had no right to take action to defend both the Iraqis and ourselves: This was NOT IN YOUR NAME. And we wonât forget where you stood, in your ignorance and fashion-driven hatred of America. We wonât forget. by Charles at 10:15 AM PST http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=6198_In_Our_Name
I wonder how those Hollywood POS's Sarandon, Sheen, Baghdad Sean, Moore, et al, feel right about now?
can a marcher hate the Iraqi people? that the operation is successful implies that opposing it is wrong? must admit they have done a very good spin job - they have succeeded in large part in blending the distinct issues of 'liberation' of oppressed people and American-funded preemptive war without evidentiary justification and in defiance of world opinion. meanwhile, all the 'wmd', aluminum tube, chemical weapon stuff is down the memory hole... well done
Donald Sensing captured a photo of it: <img src="http://donaldsensing.com/Pix/liberation/Gohomeshields.jpg" width="360" height="240">
Sensing also has a nice round-up of pictures - here's the list... go to the page for the links... http://www.donaldsensing.com/2003_04_01_archive.html#200121228 Images and video links This morning I captured some images off cable news as well as two clips of video. Here is an index, starting with the earliest: Caption contest: "How would Arab media caption this picture?" Banner held by two Baghdad men: "Go home, human shields, you U.S. wankers" Captured video of crowds celebrating in northern Iraq (MPG format). The screen is split left and right, the northern Iraq shot is on the left. My favorite: "The funeral shroud of tyranny," showing a US Marine draping the American flag over the head of the Saddam statue before they pulled the statue. The Saddam statue is pulled down. See TV-captured video of the statue's fall here. Update: Michael Totten has a fine photo collection of the morning's events, also, as well as shots from earlier days. Glenn Frazier also has a great collection of photos, as well as lots of links to news articles.
The US has again blown up a fly with a shotgun. Iraq spent 14 billion per year in defense, the US is spending 400 billion... The end or outcome still doesn't make the war legitimate. In any case, I remain supportive of the troops and am relieved to know that not more innocent lives have been lost. As to the long-term impact of this war on the so-called peace and stability, I'll keep triumphalism at bay and my fingers crossed.