In the south, and in Shia areas of Baghdad, some Iraqi Shias, coming home from years of exile in Iran, are trying to organize demonstrations against Americans. The agitators insist that the United States is in Iraq for the long haul and that the Americans want to steal Iraqi oil. Many Iraqis tend to believe odd, and ultimately disproved, things. For example, many Iraqis long believed that Saddam Hussein was actually working for the CIA, and that Saddam's job was to keep Iraq poor and terrorized. Some Iraqis still believe that, and believe that the CIA is now  holding Saddam prisoner. Other Iraqis believe that the goggles U.S. troops wear allows the Americans to see through women's clothes. Keep in mind that most mainstream Arab newspapers read like the most off-the-wall tabloids found in the West. A lot of what's going on in Iraq today is cultural differences.

Coalition forces are holding some 3,800 Iraqis as prisoners. Some 1,200 of these men are thought to be Baath Party members, most with blood on their hands. The rest are either common criminals or suspected Baath Party activists.