Iraqi Villagers Celebrate U.S. Helicopter Hit.

BAISA, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqis in the village of Baisa say they couldn’t have asked for a better present during Ramadan — a U.S. helicopter shot down in their fields.

“We usually celebrate Ramadan at the end of the month. Now we are celebrating in the beginning after these infidel Americans were shot down,” taxi driver Abdullah Hissein said.

As more U.S. helicopters patrolled over this typical Iraqi farming village on Monday, he said: “Now we want to take them down as well.”

UPDATE: And the peaceful Iraqi Muslims aren’t the only ones getting a big Ramadan charge out of American deaths: Arabs Celebrate Strikes on U.S. in Iraq. (Hat tip: SoCalJustice.)

“Iraq is now building the glory of the (Arab) community,” Mustafa Bakri, editor-in-chief of the Egyptian weekly Al-Osboa, wrote Sunday, referring to the resistance.

Samir Ragab, editor of the Egyptian daily Al-Gomhouria, lauded the Iraqis in his column for fighting back.

“Every citizen who lives in Iraq, be they Baathist or anti-Baathist, whether they support or oppose Saddam, will stand up and shout at the top of his lungs: `We will chase the Americans and their followers until they leave our home ashamed and defeated.’”

In Saudi Arabia, Al-Watan newspaper said last week that U.S. war planners did not foresee that although “the Iraqi people hated Saddam Hussein, they also hate having a foreign presence on their land.”

“Even though such attacks are not welcomed because they took innocent Iraqi souls, they have, however, delivered a strong message to decision-makers in the White House that they are no longer in control of security in Iraq, and that the victory in the classic war does not mean total control over Iraq,” Al-Watan said.