A US Marine watches as the statue of Saddam Hussein in Firdos Square is pulled down, 9 Apr 2003
Toppling the statue of Saddam Hussein was a staged event, by U.S.
soldiers, for the media. A Reuters long-shot of Firdos Square where the
statue was located shows that the Square was nearly empty
when Saddam
was torn down. The Square was sealed off by the U.S. military. The 200
people milling about were U.S. Marines, international press and Iraqis.
However, the media portrayed it as an event of the Iraqi people.