National News Iraqis jubilant as U.S. occupation of Baghdad ends Hussein's rule

フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする

Saddam Hussein's 24-year rule over Iraq came to an end April 9 as U.S. forces swept into Baghdad, sparking scenes of wild jubilation as a giant statue of the Iraqi president came crashing down.

In a day of fast-moving, dramatic events capping three weeks of war, U.S. tanks and troops swarmed over the sprawling city of five million people, meeting little resistance.

To cheers and applause, U.S. Marines used a tank recovery vehicle to help a crowd of Iraqis topple the giant statue of Hussein that had long towered over Al-Fardus Square, a symbol of Hussein's feared rule.

Both U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have welcomed the news from Baghdad but warned that the war is not over.

The most triumphant comments came from U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. "Saddam Hussein is now taking his rightful place alongside Hitler, Stalin, Lenin, Ceausescu in the pantheon of failed brutal dictators, and the Iraqi people are well on their way to freedom," he told reporters in a briefing at the Pentagon.

"Watching them (topple the statue), one cannot help but think of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Iron Curtain," Rumsfeld said.

"While it is wonderful to see the faces of the Iraqi people and to feel the joy that they have to be free of that vicious regime, nonetheless (coalition forces) continue to be in danger until the entire mission is completed," he added.

But there was no such hesitation on the streets of Baghdad, whose crowds dismissed Hussein with chants of "Traitor!" "Torturer!" "Dictator!"

However, mystery surrounded Hussein's fate. Nothing has been heard from him since a U.S. bomber obliterated on April 8 the building in Baghdad where he was believed to be with his two sons.

"He's not been around. He's not active. Therefore, he's dead, or he's incapacitated, or he's healthy and he's cowering in some tunnel someplace trying to avoid being caught," Rumsfeld said.

米軍、バクダッドを制圧

対イラク戦争で米軍は9日、バクダッドを制圧。フセイン大統領のイラク支配が事実上崩壊した。

Shukan ST: April 18, 2003

(C) All rights reserved