The Ending

I was extremely pissed of at the ending of this book. These lion's were bombed out of their home. The place where they have been feed and cared for over the majority of their lives. Once escaped from the zoo they had to survive in the city. The city was a place that used to thrive, but was destroyed by the same bombs that killed the lions home. The lions had no idea what was going on with both the town, the zoo and the world. They had to fight to find both food and shelter to survive. It didn't happen though instead they were killed by American soldiers because they looked as if they were going to attack the soldiers. One of the final lines is that they are "free." How is it that in order for them to be free they have to be killed? If the lions are the picture of the Iraqi people then why is it that the only way they can be free is if they are killed. For some reason this gives a mixed message. I don't see that in order to be free they have to die. They should have been free because they had escaped from the zoo, because they were given another chance at a better life.