They've turned on the big projection televisions in the meeting rooms up the hall, and there was a big projected Peter Jennings narrating the events in Baghdad, where it's 8PM.
I just watched them yank down a towering bronze statue of Hussein, and it didn't go easy. First it fell over, the metal legs bending and folding, and the torso hung straight out from the pedestal, a tyrannical synchronized swimming move. Noooo! Another yank and it folded and snapped off, toppling...the bronze upraised arm briefly bounced up into view. Hoh no!
Then it was lost in the sea of dancing people, pouring over top of this inert hunk of broken metal, jumping up and down, obscuring it from view. They stuck an Iraqi flag to the pedestal.
That's right: not ours, yours.
Earlier, while setting up the chain to yank down the statue, one of the marines hauled up an American flag, and drapped it over the face of the statue. It was up for no more than a minute when they then pulled it off, and hauled up the same flag they later plastered to the pedastal and put it up as a sort of necktie on the statue. Both scenes to me seemed to be photo-ops for the reporters/photographers that were swarming at the scene.
While watching dateline later in the evening, they only showed the face covering by the American flag, bemoaning the fact that it would potray us as conquerrors and occupiers. And totally neglected to mention that the flag was removed and replaced by an Iraqi flag (pre-Saddam one at that), which was then also removed before they pulled the statue down. As well as neglected to show the actual Iraqi's in the crowd who were waving around American flags of their own accord....
Move along, no bias to see here.....
Posted by: John | April 10, 2003 12:27 AM
Tell me about it. The London Evening Standard's take on the day's events opened with, "Baghdad is today rapidly disintegrating into a lawless city with hordes of looters taking to the streets."
But you know what? Fuck 'em all. The courageous ones are fighting in Iraq, not sitting at desks.
Posted by: --iaw | April 10, 2003 09:39 AM