The war to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein ended in victory yesterday with U.S. Marines capturing the dictator's final stronghold of Tikrit, capping a lightning-fast military campaign that subdued Iraq in 27 days. "That's why we've won, is thanks to the Pentagon," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said yesterday to a reporter's question about reconstruction. At the Pentagon, a spokesman said major battles are now over. "I would anticipate that the major combat engagements are over because the major Iraqi units on the ground cease to show coherence," Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal said at a Pentagon press conference. "Tikrit was the last area where we anticipated seeing major combat formations, if in fact they were there."
Today's statement of the obvious... |