On the occasion of the fourth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad, this happened:

Tens of thousands of Shi’ites — a sea of women in black abayas and men waving Iraqi flags — rallied Monday to demand that U.S. forces leave their country. Some ripped apart American flags and tromped across a Stars and Stripes rug.

It is truly heartwarming to see the march of freedom in Iraq, particularly the freedom to “desecrate” the American flag, something quite a few people in Washington feel a need to stop.

Of course, the White House sees this as progress:

Iraq, four years on, is now a place where people can freely gather and express their opinions. And that was something they could not do under Saddam. And while we have much more progress ahead of us — the United States, the coalition and Iraqis have much more to do — this is a country that has come a long way from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein.

I suppose this is a great step forward for Iraq, but also for irony–we have given them the freedom to demand that we leave. Good enough for me.

What do you have to say about flags, transvestite British comedian Eddie Izzard?