Iraqi reaction story from Salon. Read if you feel ambivalent about this.

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2003/12/14/baghdad/index.html

This is taken from someone not out looking for canned demos but
the truth.

Interesting as hell.

not a subscriber

bad news for others

The revolt is not over, and will now take on a natiomalist feeling

There is a window, albeit small, to pacify the country, and it really depends on what we do with Sadamn... and we have two weeks TOPS

The Iraqis are happy, and god bless them, they deserve it. It also points out that while happy, many have ambivelant feelings about the capture cuz they see it as an "American victory." It points out that a good number of Iraqis dislike the US presence as much as they do Saddam.

I've done snippage. If this is too much, please edit or delete.

"God has given us victory!"
Joyous Iraqis celebrate Saddam's capture, but no one knows if the tyrant's videotaped humiliation will end the guerrilla rebellion.

snip

Dec. 14, 2003 | Baghdad -- I'm hearing gunfire right now, early Monday morning in Baghdad --­ loud, echoing bursts of big-daddy automatic weapons, followed by smaller repeating pistol shots trying to keep up. It's been going on since early afternoon and will likely continue through the night as the celebrations over Saddam Hussein's capture ebb and flow across the city. All over Baghdad people who hated the dictator are making the biggest noise they can. This day is huge for them-- emotional, victorious. Everyone hopes it represents a turning point. An Iraqi man I spoke to this evening said, "It's the beginning of a new life tomorrow. Wait for a week and see: with the main terrorist gone, the resistance will stop." I'm not sure that's true, but right now I'd love to think so.

snip

By early afternoon, my housemates and I had decided we better get to the press conference -- ­ more and more online news sources were carrying the story that Saddam had been caught. (Here in Baghdad reporters rely quite heavily on Web-based news to find out what's going on in their own neighborhood. It's not at all unusual to learn of, say, a nearby bombing first on the Web, then on the streets.)

snip

snip

General Sanchez introduced a video of captured Saddam, taken while he was being examined by an army doctor. By now, the whole world has seen this footage over and over. Saddam obediently opens his mouth for inspection. He really does look shattered and utterly impotent. I have no doubt that the footage was carefully chosen to convey just that.

After the press conference, I went to Mansour,­ a middle class neighborhood (by Baghdad standards) in the heart of the city. A lot of stores were closed and someone said that many people had gone home to watch television. Other Iraqis were strolling on the street, window shopping or stopping to get a juice in the brightly colored juice joint. When I asked people what they thought about Saddam's capture, they were all unanimous: this is a great day. Had they seen the footage of Saddam? I asked. Yes, they had seen it on TV. He was a coward. He should have killed himself. Instead, he let himself be captured.

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