Hmm… think we’ve overstayed our “welcome”?
Iraqi Cleric Mobilizes Followers to Demand a U.S. Withdrawal
Tens of thousands of Iraqis marked the second anniversary of the fall of Saddam Hussein on Saturday by marching here in the capital to demand the withdrawal of American forces.
also note this para:
The demonstrators gathered at Firdos Square in central Baghdad, where American troops and Iraqis pulled down a huge statue of Mr. Hussein on April 9, 2003, in a moment that defined the fall of Baghdad
The pullodwn of the statue was a staged photo op by our propagandists. Still, if the raising of the flag on Mt. Suribachi can define the fall of Iwo Jima, I guess another staged photo op can define the fall of Baghdad. Just always remember: those photos were staged for PR purposes.
Update: Spartac.us makes it apparent that I wasn’t clear above. My bad. The demonstration above was staged for maximum political and PR impact by “democrat” al Sadr just as much as the pulldown of Saddam’s statue, including the timing of the protest. I probably should have quoted the second para in the Times piece to make that a bit more obvious.
(The headline of this post is also intended to be ironic, as I don’t think there was any welcome to overstay. I tend to err on the side subtlety. Also, laziness in lieu of an overly-scholastic post on an early Saturday when there’s baseball being played. )
More pictures after the jump
Yeah, that’s what I was saying. Or attempting to say, but doing it poorly. It was a staged photo-op. All of them.
The second para in the NYT article overwhelmed my irony sensors, so I didn’t quote in article: