U.S. 4th Infantry celebrates, wages war on graffiti

TIKRIT, Iraq -- Soldiers from the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division, who all but missed the invasion of Iraq but have been at the front line of postwar hostilities, spent Sunday afternoon smoking cigars after capturing former President Saddam Hussein.

"It almost seems too easy," said Sgt. Ebony Jones of Kansas City, Mo. "This is the best thing that ever happened to us."

In Adwar, where Saddam was captured, Capt. Joe Munger called the capture a Christmas present. "Morale here is really good," he said.

The soldiers also were waging another war against the former regime's diehards -- a graffiti war.

After Saddam's supporters sprayed dozens of walls and suitable surfaces with slogans "Long live Saddam," one patrol added Sunday: "In jail forever."