Applause can indicate many things. In some places, it simply says you don’t care to die today. Some Iraqis understand this all too well. Saddam, after all, modeled his reign on that of Stalin.
One last thing to say: we, in Iraq, have learnt the lesson and we?re not going to praise and clap to anyone and no one can force us to do so no matter what his place is. The road to dictatorships starts with clapping.