Three Weeks

That's all it took for us to get to Baghdad and remove the regime from power there. No, we don't have full control of the city yet (let alone the entire country), but "for all intents and purposes" (whose fav phase is that?) we have removed Saddam et al from power in Iraq.

Today Tim Russert referred to something a senior administration official told him in light of the events Firdos Square: "I wonder how the Iraqi Information Minister is going to explain this?" Indeed! One of my favorite lines came from an LA Times story on Monday; the 3rd ID was on the western bank of the Tigris to stay, and Sahaf had to hold his press conference on the roof of a hotel. While he's trying to explain how there are no Americans in downtown Baghdad -- in spite of the sound of machine gun fire and rising, black smoke -- an interpreter for Sky News is translating on the fly: "At one point, an interpreter translating Sahaf's words into English for Britain's Sky News television was overwhelmed by the absurdity and started laughing." Ain't that great!

I can't wait to see what the 4th ID does in Tikrit...