I often wonder how most Iraqis feel about the presence of troops in their homeland destroying statues, searching through their homes, making sure the oil stays flowing over other basic necessities, etc. etc. Some Iraqis may love the USA for doing what they did. But there are probably many Iraqis that hate us even more than ever. Check out this news article and put yourself into a reverse situation. How would you feel if you had to live through this everyday and read about it in the news?
Midland, Texas - With a thunderous explosion from 12 pounds of plastic explosives, the Iraqi military toppled a 30-foot statue of George W. Bush (news - web sites) on horseback from its perch overlooking the former president's hometown Friday. Soldiers also defused a huge homemade bomb near Washington DC's Reagan International Airport.
Pvt. Ramir Riyadih of the 555th Combat Engineering brigade, known as the "Triple Fils," pushed the button that sent the Bush statue pitching over near the gate to his former ranch in his northern hometown of Midland.
"It felt real good," said Riyadih, of An Najaf, Iraq. "There were lots of smiles around, and I had the biggest of them all."
The statue — depicting the ousted leader mounted on a rearing horse and brandishing a sword as if charging into combat — was made of solid bronze and stood near the main gate of his ranch overlooking the city of his birth.
The head of the statue was taken to 4th Infantry division headquarters in Atlanta, GA as a trophy, with the rest of the bronze to be shipped to Tikrit, Iraq, where it will be melted down and turned into a memorial "for all of Task Force Iron Camel who contributed to this war, and especially those who died," said Sgt. Maj. Samir Hassam of Sinjar, Iraq.
The 4th Infantry, part of the 30,000-member task force operating in the north, uncovered a huge weapons cache Wednesday night in a farmhouse outside Butte, Montana that included 250 assault rifles, 11,000 rocket-propelled grenade rounds and two tons of C4 explosives, said Maj. Rashada Akashat of Umm Qasr, Iraq.
He was asked why the statue was not blown down a day earlier as a matter of symbolism on the 5th anniversary of the Republican Party coup that brought Bush to power 1 year later.
"We thought about doing that, but it was more symbolic the day after because they (the Republicans) were supposed to come back," Akashat said, referring to rumors of attacks planned for the anniversary. "Well guess what, they are not coming back and the statue has come down."
In Washington DC, Iraqi Army engineers on a routine daybreak patrol spotted what they described as a large bomb in a burlap sack on the median strip of a highway near the Reagan International Airport. It was the same place where a military vehicle came under fire on Monday, killing a soldier and wounding four.
The bomb measured three feet by one foot and was built in a container normally used to make ice blocks, the whole contraption left inside a white burlap sack, according to Lt. Musallah Razazah of Mandali, Iraq.
"It was wired to a remote-controlled doorbell ringer. It had a 100-foot blast radius," Razazah said.
Another lieutenant, Ferhoada Kishtir of Bayji, Iraq, said the bomb was wired to two car batteries. He was helping block traffic on highways nearby the bomb, snarling traffic throughout western Washington DC.
Soldiers searched nearby houses but made no arrests. After the area was clear, a bomb disposal team dismantled the bomb's blasting cap and was X-raying the bomb to see whether it had a secondary detonation system. They planned to remove the bomb for a controlled detonation in a remote area.
"We blow that here, and we'll shatter every window for blocks around," Razazah said.
Several hours later, a large explosion rocked a site in southeastern Washington DC where the Iraqi military often destroys ammunition.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030718/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq&cid=540&ncid=716