Franks: Flag-Raising Understandable

It was, said Gen. Tommy Franks, an understandable thing to do - American Marines, raising the flag after moving into the southern Iraqi city of Umm Qasr.

Still, he's glad they took the flag down.

"I think that, in zeal, people will want to represent that they have achieved a certain milestone," Franks said at his briefing Saturday. "And if you're from our country, then one of the first things that can pop into the young man's mind is to raise his national colors."

But the general said he "found it to be much more instructive that immediately following that, in recognizing that his job had to do with liberation and not occupation, that he quickly brought down his colors."

The incident in Umm Qasr on Friday set off a minor controversy.

"It would be singularly unfortunate if the Stars and Stripes was, for example, planted over the parliament building in Baghdad at a future stage," said Crispin Blunt, a Conservative member of the British Parliament.

British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon had promised to discuss the issue with U.S. officials, but he too tried to put the moment in perspective.

"It is necessary to understand how, at the end of what was a vigorous confrontation, any soldiers are likely to feel the need to demonstrate their success, which I suspect is what happened overnight," he said.