Saddam Statue Toppled In Baghdad Square
Residents Dance, Cheer On Monument
Updated: 3:31 p.m. EDT April 9, 2003
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A large crowd of Iraqis danced on a statue of Saddam Hussein, after U.S. Marines helped bring it down in a central square in Baghdad.
The Marines attached a chain around the large, hollow statue and used a military vehicle with a large winch to slowly pull it down. The black statue shows Saddam standing ramrod straight with one arm raised.
As the military vehicle slowly backed up, the statue's legs snapped, and most of it tilted down and hung off its large pedestal. The vehicle then pulled most of it off the pedestal, leaving the lower legs hanging off.
Crowds of Iraqis immediately jumped on the statue, holding hands, cheering, and waving Iraqi flags.
While it was still standing, U.S. troops briefly draped an American flag on the statue's head, but then took it down. They also briefly hung an Iraqi flag under its neck.
Earlier, a crowd of Iraqis gathered at the base of the statue in Firdos Square, three men using a ladder scaled the statue and attached a thick rope, frayed at one end, to the image of Saddam.
Others found a sledgehammer and began pounding away at the base, taking turns at chipping stone off the statue's pedestal.
An Iraqi mosque preacher said he's 49 years old, but never lived a single day. Now, he said he can "start living." The preacher is one of the Baghdad residents who bashed at a towering statue of Saddam with a sledgehammer.
As he whacked tile and concrete off the base of the 40-foot statue, the preacher called Saddam "a murderer and a criminal."
Earlier, a large crowd of Iraqis pelted the statue with shoes and slippers -- a major insult in the Arab world.
Iraqis swarmed over the hollow torso, hitting it with sticks.
Men then dragged the torn-off head through the street with ropes as children rode it and beat it with shoes.
At the Pentagon, the toppling of Saddam's statue brought some cheers and applause in offices.
Some of the top officials in the press office were watching television when the statue came down. They laughed as it seemed to bounce then break in half.
One official quipped -- that's Saddam "holding onto power until the last."
Still, Pentagon officials caution that the symbolic end to the Saddam regime doesn't mean an end to the conflict.
Spokesman Bryan Whitman said "far from it." He said the pictures are "very dramatic." But he added that it's just one small scene in one small section of Baghdad. And he notes that section has a Shiite Muslim majority population who opposed the Saddam regime.
The Pentagon spokesman also noted that U.S. troops continue to come under sporadic fire in Baghdad and that combat is continuing in northern Iraq. Still, officials at the Pentagon applauded and cheered at the sight of the statue being brought to the ground.
One Pentagon official acknowledged that briefly an American flag was placed on top of the statue might not have been the "politically correct" thing to do, since the U.S. military wants to appear as liberators, and not conquerors of Iraq.
But Col. Jay DeFrank said some U.S. troops may simply have gotten caught up in euphoria of the moment. And to those who criticize the action, he said, "Give me a break."
Bush Reacts
President George W. Bush thinks the toppling of Saddam's statue demonstrates "the power of freedom."That's according to spokesman Ari Fleischer, who said the president didn't see the moment on live TV, but was watching both before and after as he talked to aides outside the Oval Office.
Fleischer said the scenes of jubilation in Baghdad witnessed by advancing U.S. troops are "historic" -- and show Iraq's "unquenchable" thirst for freedom.
However, he said Bush also sees the need for "utmost caution." He says parts of Baghdad and other cities remain under the control of Saddam's regime -- and coalition forces "are still in harm's way."
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Copyright 2003 by LifeWhile.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.