Statue Talk

Here’s something calculated to drive the Juan Coles of the world insane – the new mayor of Baghdad wants to put up a statue of President Bush as the symbol of freedom. The reasons for his gratitude are obvious, but I’d prefer something more generic — a new version of Lady Liberty where the old statue of Saddam once stood. I can’t think of the form just now but some young Marine playing soccer with an Iraqi kid wouldn’t be bad. There are plenty of others. One thing seems certain – those who were whining that the Iraqis showed no gratitude to America for overthrowing their dictator are as wrong about that as they were about everything else. It just came a couple of years late. But it seems likely to last a long time.

UPDATE: Hovig, below, points out that the Saddam statue has already been replaced. I don’t know where Baghdad’s new mayor was intending to put his Bush statue, but there are undoubtedly good places for a new Lady Liberty.