Liberation

The moment the statue of Saddam came down, it should have been apparent to any objective observer that the Americans were in deep trouble.

Compare photographs of the liberation of Paris with the liberation of Baghdad.

This is the liberation of Paris:

This is the "liberation" of Baghdad, as U.S. Military PSYOPS staged the toppling of Saddam's statue for the benefit of American TV cameras.

Just to round out the story, here's Rumsfeld meeting with Saddam in 1983 as the United States provided military assistance, including WMD, to support Saddam's illegal invasion of Iran:

Shaking Hands with Saddam Hussein: The U.S. Tilts toward Iraq, 1980-1984.