"Only now will I start living."

[revaluation]

BAGHDAD, Iraq — In a scene of triumph and jubilation televised live throughout the world, Iraqi citizens in the heart of Baghdad -- with help from a large U.S. military vehicle -- toppled a huge statue of Saddam Hussein Wednesday and began dancing on it when it fell to the ground.

It was a historic moment: the people of Iraq conveying to the world that they are finally free of the brutal dictator who has maintained a vice grip on them for nearly 30 years.

As the 40-foot statue fell, some threw shoes and slippers at it -- a gross insult in the Arab world.

A group of Iraqi men later dragged the head of the statue down the street, taking turns riding on the gigantic head as others slapped at it with their shoes.

"This is a good day for the Iraqi people," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said during a Pentagon briefing. "We will not stop until Saddam Hussein's regime has been removed from every corner of that country.

"We said from the beginning he is finished -- now [the Iraqis] are daring to believe it.

"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."

Earlier in the day, American tanks drove straight into the center of Baghdad, to Firdos Square, and Iraqi citizens poured into the street, some taking their shirts off and waving them around in celebration.

Before an American M-88 tank recovery vehicle yanked the statue down, U.S. troops -- with the aid of an Iraqi man -- put an American flag over the statue's face, then replaced it with an Iraqi flag. Both were taken down before the statue was toppled.

Iraqi men took turns swinging a sledgehammer to the statue's base.

"I'm 49, but I never lived a single day," said Yusuf Abed Kazim, a Baghdad imam who was pounding the statue's pedestal. "Only now will I start living. That Saddam Hussein is a murderer and a criminal."

Other Iraqis picked flowers from a nearby garden and handed them to Marines.

U.S. troops walked around the square, checking rooftops for snipers, but they met little to no resistance in that part of the city, east of the Tigris River.

"He's [Saddam] kept us on our toes but we're ready to be finished and go home," one Marine told Sky News.

One Iraqi was asked by Sky News reporter David Chater what the coalition presence means for him.

"It's safety for me ... they don't hurt anyone," he said. "All the people here is happy -- I see happy."

Civilians gestured to the Americans with V-for-victory signs. "We were nearly mobbed by people trying to shake our hands," said Maj. Andy Milburn of the 7th Marines.

[cookiegirl]

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[vicman]

hopefuly they wont have to be invading in 20 years time to take out another dictator.

[therunner]

NO War No War. Innocent Women and Children will Die. It's not worth it.

Remember that shit. People will die? Wow, the 49-year-old Iraqi has never lived.

Those that are opposed of what we are, have and will do in that country - Be ashamed, be very ashamed of yourselves. The people of Iraq are glad that we are there. Are glad that we have freed them of a dictator. I am glad that we are there. I am glad that we will stay there to preserve the country. We still have a long road ahead in rebuilding the country, in physical, government, and economic reconstruction. 25 years from now Iraq will be a glowing light for Middle Eastern countries to look up too. I am proud of my brothers and sisters in arms that are on the wayt to fully liberating Iraq. I am PROUD of MY President and Commander in Chief.

10 Years to late.