Posted on 3/21/2003, 5:00:07 PM by TenthAmendmentChampion
SAWFAN, Iraq — U.S. Marines hauled down giant street portraits of Saddam Hussein in a screeching pop of metal and bolts Friday, telling nervous residents of this southern Iraqi town that "Saddam is done."
Milling crowds of men and boys watched as the Marines attached ropes on the front of their Jeeps to one portrait and then backed up, peeling the Iraqi leader's black-and-white metal image off a frame. Some locals briefly joined Maj. David "Bull" Gurfein in a new cheer.
"Iraqis! Iraqis! Iraqis!" Gurfein yelled, pumping his fist in the air.
"We wanted to send a message that Saddam is done," said Gurfein, a New York native in the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. "People are scared to show a lot of emotion. That's why we wanted to show them this time we're here, and Saddam is done."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
A few men and boys ventured out, putting makeshift white flags on their pickup trucks or waving white T-shirts out truck windows.
"Americans very good," Ali Khemy said. "Iraq wants to be free."
Some chanted, "Ameriki! Ameriki!"
Many others in the starving town just patted their stomachs and raised their hands, begging for food.
A man identifying himself only as Abdullah welcomed the arrival of the U.S. troops: "Saddam Hussein is no good. Saddam Hussein a butcher."
An old woman shrouded in black -- one of the very few women outside -- knelt toward the feet of Americans, embracing an American woman. A younger man with her pulled her away, giving her a warning sign by sliding his finger across his throat.
In 1991, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis died after prematurely celebrating what they believed was their liberation from Saddam after the Gulf War. Some even pulled down a few pictures of Saddam then -- only to be killed by Iraqi forces.
Gurfein playfully traded pats with a disabled man and turned down a dinner invitation from townspeople.
"Friend, friend," he told them in Arabic learned in the first Gulf War.
"We stopped in Kuwait that time," he said. "We were all ready to come up there then, and we never did."
The townspeople seemed grateful this time.
"No Saddam Hussein!" one young man in headscarf told Gurfein. "Bush!"
IF true - this is nothing short of a God Thing - A Miracle!
He hath loosed the Dreadful Lightining of His Terrible Swift Sword!
My name's Jim, and somebody here told me last night that he's dead. If they soemhow knew my name, surely they musta known 'bout Saddam!
A very wise young man who has learned to trust nobody. It aint over till it's over. Liberators who have a history of ditching their friends cannot ever be trusted. Do it right this time and hand it over to the UN at the last hour. hehe
I'd give billing to physics, GPS, and the American military, myself.
A miracle would be more like Chirac dropping dead right after
admitting everything he has done in the last year was fraudulent.
As much as you may not like it however, President George W. Bush, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, General Ryan, most of the senior military, and practially all of the enlisted forces give the glory of the coming victory to Almighty God.
Sorry about that, but it's out of your hands.
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