The Duc Pond

Today was a positive day for American forces. We’ve been shown lots of photos and video footage of Iraqis celebrating in the streets of Baghdad. Particularly moving was news and video of Iraqis climbing a statue of Saddam to put a rope around it and topple it. Eventually some U.S. soldiers came along and helped them pull the statue down with their armored vehicle. All good news to be sure, but this is but a small part of Baghdad, which is itself a small part of Iraq. We can’t be sure the whole country will feel this way, and even if they do, we can’t be sure that it’ll last. Plus the BBC has reported that many Arabs aren’t happy about the Iraqi celebration. They see it as growth of a Pax Americana. We have to ramp up the humanitarian effort and we need to stabilize the country. That, in my humblest of opinions, will be the true measure of success.