Probably the simplest way to describe the war today is this: the war against the regime is over, but there's still a war to be fought against organized resistance, and that war will be dangerous and just as important: a war to ensure that Iraq does not become Lebanon, and that the bitter-enders are reduced to nothing. Our focus will now shift from loosening the regime's grip (with as little loss of life as necessary) to something more like the Afghan war - killing people who are likely to ever want to fight us.

Maybe somebody can answer this . . . my wife and I were discussing how little that huge statute looked like Saddam, and I seem to recall reading that he had bought some used statuary from the Soviet Union in its dotage (presumably at a discount). Was that actually a statue of Josef Stalin?

Lileks, on the liberated Iraqis: "All of a sudden, in a day, a guy can look at a car battery without crossing his legs."

Boy, is this ever a rapid advance to the next journalistic meme, from (who else?) Reuters: "After Saddam 'Nightmare' Baghdad Wants U.S. Out Soon . . . Baghdad residents expressed relief on Thursday at the collapse of Saddam Hussein's 24-year rule but said U.S. forces should restore order quickly and leave, or face the wrath of an emboldened population."