I am well aware of when, and why, the Cross came down from St. John’s.

I am not entirely sure where the ‘crowd of thousand’ for the statue idea came from. The images of it being pulled down were broadcast live, with both close up and wider angle shots. As I recall, there were probably 5-600 people watching, with a smaller number participating. I am also not sure which images of flowers you are talking about, certainly some Iraqi’s welcomed the American invasion, and others did not.

Cynicism isn’t anything like wisdom.

Read the comments.

Just the simple humility of such an action.

I am sorry Dave, but every time I hear and see this kind of story, this kind of image, there are two things that come to the forefront of my mind.

The first is the image of the tank pulling down the statue of Hussein after Baghdad was occupied. Fantastic piece of photo-journalism and propaganda. Pity that “the crowd of thousands” turned out to be no more that a hundred or two. Similarly the images of “Iraqis by the thousand” welcoming the “liberators” with flowers… a thin ragged line of people strategically placed for the photo. Cynical? Yes.

The second is that there is a far greater probability that the Iraqis were being well paid for their efforts. Not by anyone other than their employer you understand, in exactly the same way that a Cross might be put at the top of a Church in Auckland or Akron. If in Auckland, there is a 2:1 probability that the workers would confess to being “non-believers” - either agnostic or atheist.

In this instance in Baghdad one has to admire the men for their bravery, for sitting atop a prominent building like that might make them an easy target for a sniper. Where in the Green Belt did Michael say the Church was? And so that I don’t need to explain that piece of cynicism, just think on how carefully those admitted to the Green Belt are screened…

Whichever, it seems to me to be not terribly more signifigant then Christians and Muslims working to replace a cross as a sign of sectarian tolerance.

What is so signifigant about Christian mosque cleaners that I am missing?

Until then…