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Metropolis Reality Forums Ť Symbol of Saddam's rule toppled ť

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   Symbol of Saddam's rule toppled

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Topic: Symbol of Saddam's rule toppled (Read 312 times)

Rhune
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Symbol of Saddam's rule toppled
« on: Apr 9^th, 2003, 10:23am »

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Symbol of Saddam's rule toppled
Heavy fighting at Baghdad University ignites ammo cache
Wednesday, April 9, 2003 Posted: 11:19 AM EDT (1519 GMT)

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- In a symbolic strike against Saddam Hussein's crumbling regime, Iraqis and U.S. Marines on Wednesday pulled down a towering statue of the Iraqi leader at Baghdad's center.

Marines watched as dozens of Iraqis tied a rope around the statue in Firdos Square and then took turns pounding at the base of the monument with a sledgehammer. An American M-88 tank recovery vehicle, equipped with a large crane, moved in a few minutes later to help pull the statue crashing to the ground.

The Marines put a chain around the neck of the statue and covered its head with a U.S. flag briefly, before replacing it with an Iraqi flag. That flag also was removed before the statue was pulled down.

Iraqis then jumped and stomped on the statue, which had been erected last April 28 to celebrate Saddam's birthday, and then pulled its head through the streets.

Those Marines were greeted by journalists and cheering Iraqis as they took up positions in central Baghdad, but fierce fighting raged elsewhere in the Iraqi capital.

"We thought we were going to get a lot of resistance but we never did, so we just kept pushing and pushing until we got here," said Cpl. Steven Harris with the Marines in the square.

It was a different story for a U.S. Marine column moving into Baghdad from the east, which came under heavy fire Wednesday afternoon at Baghdad University after being greeted by cheering Iraqis earlier in the day.

CNN Correspondent Martin Savidge, embedded with the 1st Marines, 7th Battalion, said the university campus was a battlefield, with black smoke rising from several buildings and machine-gun fire ripping around the fighting vehicles.

"This was not the exact reception ... anticipated," Savidge reported while under fire. "There's a lot of smoke and dust now and fire. ... [It's] a far cry from the jubilant crowds ... just hard to imagine two blocks away."

Savidge said the fighting ignited an ammunition cache on the campus, which burned and exploded for about 45 minutes after the Marines secured the area.

Fighting also continued in northeast Baghdad, according to Roland Huguenin-Benjamin with the International Committee of the Red Cross. He said a Red Cross convoy was hit, and no one had been able to reach the wounded because of the crossfire.

In the Baghdad suburb of Saddam City, residents were in the streets, celebrating the apparent end of the Iraqi regime. A Shiite Muslim leader told a group of 400 to 500 people, "The tyrant of the world is finished, thanks to the coalition. Thank God for Iraq the victorious." (Full story)

International media showed video of looting in and around Baghdad. Dozens of people were seen hauling off furniture, fixtures and office supplies, using wheelbarrows and pickups, with no security forces to stop them. Others ripped down posters of Saddam and destroyed them -- kicking, punching and spitting on the pictures.

Residents in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil spilled out onto the streets as well in passionate but less-raucous demonstrations, waving flags, tossing confetti and chanting.

At a briefing Wednesday at U.S. Central Command headquarters in Qatar, Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks said coalition officials were somewhat concerned about the unrest but said they believe it will "settle down in due time."

"I think in this case we're seeing a lot of jubilation and people who have long been oppressed for years and years having choices," Brooks said.

Saddam's fate remains a mystery after Monday's B-1 bomber strike on a Baghdad building where U.S. officials suspected he was meeting with senior aides, but coalition officials said that there were signs that his regime was losing control of the country, even before Wednesday's demonstrations. (Full story)

A senior U.S. Army officer said Wednesday that "the majority of Iraqi forces [in the Baghdad area] have now given up." (Full story)

Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, who been the public face of the Iraqi government during the war, did not appear Wednesday for his daily briefing. The government minders, who have shadowed international reporters for the last 12 years, were not at the Palestine Hotel, which is the base for many journalists, CNN's Rula Amin reported. (On the Scene)

The U.S. Army has airlifted more armor into a coalition-controlled air base in northern Iraq early Wednesday, preparing for a push south along the northern front.

Tanks, armored personnel carriers and Bradley fighting vehicles were moved from a base in Germany to Harir airfield, near the city of Erbil, where the Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade is deployed, reported CNN Correspondent Steve Nettleton, embedded in the area.

Other developments
• Military officials plan to conduct DNA tests on blood stains found on U.S. camouflage uniforms that were discovered at a military prison on the southwestern edge of Baghdad, Pentagon officials said. Two of the uniforms bore the names of two American service members known to be Iraqi prisoners of war, military sources said, but they would not divulge the names. The Marines, who captured the prison, did not find any American POWs.

• U.S. officials said a team of CIA and defense intelligence analysts is preparing to enter Iraq to investigate the fate of Capt. Scott Speicher, a Navy pilot shot down on the first day of the first Persian Gulf War in 1991. (Full story)

• The United States plans to host a conference of Iraqi opposition leaders to discuss the creation of an interim Iraqi authority to replace Saddam. The participants will include members of the Iraqi opposition "from both inside and outside the country," one Bush administration official said, adding that Bush's envoy to the Iraqi opposition, Zalmay Khalilzhad, probably would represent the United States. The meeting is tentatively set for April 15 in the southern Iraqi town of Nasiriya, U.S. officials said. (Full story)

• U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan will travel to Athens, Greece, on April 16 and 17 to discuss the role of the United Nations in Iraq with European Union leaders.

U.S. Marines with India Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Division, provide cover fire as other Marines advance on headquarters of the Fedayeen in Baghdad on Wednesday.
• Coalition forces are searching for two U.S. Air Force crew members missing after their F-15E Strike Eagle plane went down Sunday in the vicinity of Tikrit, which is still hostile territory, military officials said. (Full story)

• Japan will contribute up to $100 million worth of humanitarian assistance to Iraq and neighboring countries, its Foreign Ministry announced Wednesday. This decision is in response to an appeal from the United Nations and International Committee of the Red Cross. The aid includes money for food, medical assistance and restoration of water supply facilities.

CNN Correspondents Martin Savidge, Rula Amin, Tom Mintier, Diana Muriel, Walter Rodgers, Brent Sadler, Barbara Starr and Ben Wedeman contributed to this report.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This report was written in accordance with Pentagon ground rules allowing so-called embedded reporting, in which journalists join deployed troops. Among the rules accepted by all participating news organizations is an agreement not to disclose sensitive operational details.

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MzWings
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Re: Symbol of Saddam's rule toppled
« Reply #1 on: Apr 9^th, 2003, 11:02am »

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Did anyone here watch, as this statue was delicately and deliberately, smashed to smithereens? I did and stood on my feet in tribute to our military for accomplishing this and in prayer that the Iraqi's will be given back all they've lost. I felt I was watching a little bit of history in the making.

I worried earlier, when the American Flag was draped on the head of the statue - that symbolistically it would appear "we" (the Americans) were taking over Iraq. Quickly the Iraqi flag (replaced the American flag) but was removed before the statue toppled. How would it have looked to see their flag go down with the statue? Not good at all. It ended well.....

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east
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Re: Symbol of Saddam's rule toppled
« Reply #2 on: Apr 9^th, 2003, 12:09pm »

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i watchd as it happened too wings. it was all so surreal.

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chickmama
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Re: Symbol of Saddam's rule toppled
« Reply #3 on: Apr 9^th, 2003, 2:03pm »

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It was neat to watch, but goodness gracious did they have to take up all of television for almost 3 hours so we could see it happen?
Also, everytime I watch those people celebrating, I have the "Ding Dong the witch is dead" song reverberating in my head. I really think the marines should teach the children "that" song.

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MzWings
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Re: Symbol of Saddam's rule toppled
« Reply #4 on: Apr 9^th, 2003, 3:49pm »

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This was all so amazing - and yes, surreal too....

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Tinkerbell
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Re: Symbol of Saddam's rule toppled
« Reply #5 on: Apr 10^th, 2003, 6:25pm »

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I was getting ready for work this morning and saw bits and peices. It was amazing. Diane Sawyer did an interview with the family of the marine who draped the flag over the face. They had the entire family including the fiance. They were so proud of his actions.

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