562 ChaPter^11
Saddam fled on April 9th, 2003. The Iraqis, who had suffered under his cru-
elty for decades, ran into the streets to celebrate, but also looted and destroyed
museums and ancient artifacts. Saddam was on the run and was captured in
December 2003. But, in so many ways, the war had just begun. In the imme-
diate aftermath of the removal of Saddam from power, tens of thousands, or
more, of Iraqis began an insurgency to get the U.S. forces out of Iraq too.
While thrilled to be rid of Saddam, they did not want the Americans there
running their country now. Various militias, many run by Muslim holy men,
veterans of the Iraqi army, some foreign fighters, and Shiite wanting to get rid
of the Sunni minority running the government began a war of both open
armed conflict and terrorism against not just U.S. units but against the civilian
population. In some instances, the Iraqi militias fought against U.S. troops in
urban combat settings–sometimes in house-to-house fighting, most viciously
in the city of Fallujah. But more typically, the insurgents used car bombs, IEDs
[Improvised Explosive Devices, or bombs made of small electronics, even cell
phones, that would be remotely detonated when soldiers or civilians wereFIGuRE 11-2 Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (left) and New York
Mayor Rudy Giuliani (right) speak with the media at the site of the World
Trade Center attacks, November 14, 2001