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Thursday, April 10, 2003

By Ann McFeatters, Post-Gazette National Bureau

WASHINGTON -- As a huge statue of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was toppled in the center of Baghdad yesterday, the White House reacted with a unique mixture of caution and satisfaction, warning that "the war is not over."

President Bush watched television between meetings as a crowd of Iraqis pulled down the 20-foot statue of Saddam with the help of some Marines and their winch. "They got it down," he reportedly exclaimed.

It was seen in the White House as sweet vindication for a president who had disregarded many of America's traditional allies to go to war against a regime that in 1990 had defied his father, then-President George H.W. Bush, by invading Kuwait and threatening Saudi Arabia. But the White House was determined yesterday to avoid antagonizing allies further by appearing to gloat, and officials were clearly concerned about the difficult tasks ahead.

Throughout Iraq, some loyalist soldiers continue to resist coalition forces, and soldiers or paramilitaries still loyal to Saddam continue to control the northern cities of Tikrit, Kirkut and Mosul. There also looms the daunting task for the U.S. military of keeping order in Iraq while not being regarded as an occupying force.

Myriad questions remain: Where is Saddam, and, if he's still alive, can he still muster armed opposition? Might the northern oil fields be set afire? Where are the Iraqi regime's weapons of mass destruction, the Bush administration's stated rationale for war? Will U.S. forces face prolonged battles with guerrillas in parts of the country?

There was widespread distress in the Arab and Muslim worlds at the scenes from Baghdad yesterday, but there seemed little White House or Pentagon concern that this reaction might be aggravated by the fact that a U.S. flag was briefly draped over the Saddam statue before it was yanked from its pedestal. Officials saw the act as a Marine's justifiable exuberance upon finding himself suddenly making history, despite their efforts to portray the war as one of liberation rather than conquest. The U.S. flag was swiftly replaced by an Iraqi one, bringing cheers from the crowd.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer called yesterday "an important day for the people of Iraq," but said Bush had no plan to address the nation because the war has not yet ended.

Bush spent most of his low-profile day meeting with top national security and intelligence officials and even shunned an opportunity to answer reporters' questions at a photo opportunity with the visiting president of Slovakia, Rudolf Schuster. Slovakia will help clear land mines in Iraq after the war.

Asked for his sense of the president's mood, Schuster offered: "The atmosphere was very positive. Victory is drawing closer; the campaign is nearing its end."

On the day that the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, while Bush's father was president, he was widely criticized for not reacting with more passion and emotion. Asked yesterday if it is a Bush family trait to react cautiously on historic days, Fleischer said this:

"What you have to keep in mind about what you've seen today is today is a momentous day for freedom in Iraq, is a day where a statue fell and a statue was dragged through the streets in a powerful expression of freedom by the Iraqi people. And it fell in the middle of a shooting war. And we remain in the middle of a shooting war.

"The president looks forward to speaking out," Fleischer went on. "The president is filled with joy for the fact that the Iraqi people will soon be free. And I assure you this president, as he has done repeatedly throughout this, will speak out. But I urge you just to keep today in context."

The tone of wary optimism was echoed throughout the administration. In New Orleans, Vice President Dick Cheney told a gathering of newspaper editors that American troops have conducted themselves with integrity and skill in Iraq and, so far, have avoided creating a large-scale humanitarian crisis.

But he warned, "Until this war is fully won, we cannot be overconfident in our position, and we must not underestimate the desperation of whatever forces remain loyal to the dictator.

"We know full well the nature of the enemy we're dealing with," Cheney said. "Servants of the regime have used hospitals, schools and mosques for military operations. They've tortured and executed prisoners of war. They've forced women and children to serve as human shields. They've transported death squads in ambulances, fought in civilian clothes, feigned surrender and opened fire on our forces, and shot civilians who welcomed coalition troops."

At the Pentagon as well, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld repeated the administration mantra to reporters: "There are going to be some very tough times ahead." But he also said relatives of those who died and of soldiers still in Iraq should take "enormous pride" in their actions as they watch "these historic scenes unfold. ... This is a very good day."