*rolls eyes* conspiracy theories at every turn...
did it occur to them that the reason the square _might_ have been cleared was so that the statue could have been toppled safely?
the iraqis thumping the statues with their shoes looked fairly vehement - after 25 years of being ruled by a despot I doubt they would have needed much encouragement...
Though the media represented this as a spontaneous act of the people of Baghdad. If the allegations are true (and I've yet to see them debunked), those involved were either US military personnel or US-trained militia fighters flown in for the occasion, which is quite a different story. Do the words "astroturf campaign" mean anything to you?
http://nyc.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=55651&group=webcast