...As long as they have no external interferences. i suggest we let the people of Iraq, alone, determine what type of political system works most appropriately for them and how long achieving that will take.
More stories of jubilation that speak for themselves.
Baghdad Offers a Sweet Smelling Welcome
Wed April 9, 2003 01:38 PM ET
By Sean Maguire
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - I woke up beside a running sewer and did not expect the day to smell of roses.
I had crept with U.S. Marines through the suburbs in darkness, bedding down on a slum roadside, well positioned for the U.S. attack on Baghdad.
But in the morning I was riding into the Iraqi capital on top of an armored personnel carrier, being cheered along with the Marines as a liberator.
Girls peeked around gateposts and waved at the soldiers. Old men gave grave salutes and youngsters ran alongside the whirling vehicle tracks, shouting “Welcome, welcome, welcome.”
As the Marines realized they were being greeted with smiles not bullets their mood lifted and the strains and fatigue of their 20-day dash north from Kuwait began to ease.
Rose petals fluttered down from rooftops, flowers were thrown onto tanks and women dressed in traditional black held up bemused babies to see the soldiers.
“Hello my guest, thank you for coming,” said one bystander, using practiced but limited English.
When I saw the clam-shaped Martyrs’ Monument I knew I was deep in the city. At that moment a jubilant crowd enveloped the Marines and it was clear the war was all but over and President Saddam Hussein finished.
“Down with Saddam, down with Saddam,” shouted a middle-aged man, his anger making his jowls shake. He kicked out with his foot as he cursed the Iraqi leader.
Hundreds of youths chased the Marine column, giving a thumbs up sign and shouting “Bush, Bush, Bush.”
Many Marines had expected it to be a tougher fight that would test their courage but few had fired their weapons.
Nevertheless, the city was tense. Gunfire rippled in the distance and smoke hung in the air, reminding troops that not everyone was happy to see them. A translator said some men in the crowd men were cursing the Americans quietly.
But the prevailing mood was enthusiastic verging on anarchic.
Looting erupted and symbols of Saddam’s rule were pulled down.
Cars, trucks and shopping trolleys moved through the streets loaded with anything the crowds could strip from government buildings and abandoned warehouses.
I saw one man sitting in comfort on an armchair strapped to the roof of his car.
By nightfall the crowds had wheeled home their booty, leaving the Marines and me to another night by the roadside, this time savoring a sweeter smell.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=1NMOFD4MXTQ2OCRBAE0CFFA?type=focusIraqNews&storyID=2537315
The irony of this is that exactly those cheering ppl would again rejoin to celebrate the next bomb dropped in the heart of Israel. These are all those who want Israel to be no more!
Let's see how those will be reacting to these type of cheers.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Nadia_H: *
Not the Iraqis whose limbs have had to be amputated in hospitals.
[/QUOTE]
And how would you have addressed this problem? With "understanding" and "communication"?
I'd be willing to bet that a number of Iraqis would have voluntarily sacrified an arm or leg for freedom.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Nadia_H: *
Otherwise, it will give more fodder for disgruntled Muslims like myself to carp on about the stooge governments the US imposes and it will enforce my belief that they just want to exploit Iraqi resources.
[/QUOTE]
Stooge governments....
Ask the girls in Afghanistan how they feel about their stooge government. You can find them in school... a place they couldn't go before their "stooge" government was placed upon them.
FuzzNug, Did i step on your toes or something sometime ago? Is that why i have the uncomfortable pleasure of seeing you respond angrily to each of my posts?
If those who were toppling this statue genuinely feel happy to see Hussein go - then who am i to state anything otherwise. i just hope that, as many of the American Guppies have stated in this Forum, Iraq is given a chance to be a truly democratic country this time around... whether or not that entails a government that is friendly towards other administrations, should be a moot point.
Bottom line - i think we ALL want what is best for the people of Iraq.
What a load of c***, how many muslims have died in Iraq because of the invasion? if someone kills/injures my family i would not call them liberaties, i would call them murders. Reality is that the vast majority of muslims in Iraq see them(invaders) in that way!!
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by underthedome: *
Vote tomorrow? That's not going to happen, the war isn't even over yet. An interim government will be set up (a meeting is Saturday) and be around for many months to come. The next step now is for the coalition forces to secure Iraqi cities as quickly as possible so aid agencies can get to work throughout Iraq where they are desperately needed.
[/QUOTE]
That is correct where the aid is desperately needed, coalition forces will knwo becasue they bombed the hell out of the country. They cut of the electricity to the cities which indirectlt cuts the water supplies.
When you cut off the water and food supplies of a city, what did you think the iraqi kids were going to do? Of course they were running behind the marines for a hand out. Its pitiful and disgusting to see what those people have been subjected to not only by saddam but the so called liberators.
Well Kaleem they were looking pretty cozy before any handouts were given, time to stop denying what has happened in Iraq and the Iraqis reaction to it.
And Finally there were the flowers…
Residents threw flowers at the armoured column as it swept past , just three kilometres east of the central Jumhuriyya Bridge over the Tigris river. Joy at the apparent removal of Saddam Hussein was tangible, with one man beating a canvas portrait of him with his slipper.
Crowds threw flowers at the Marines as they drove past the Martyrs’ Monument , just three km (two miles) east of the central Jumhuriya Bridge over the river Tigris.
“No more Saddam Hussein,” chanted one group, waving to troops as they passed. “We love you, we love you.” One young man ran alongside a Marine armoured personnel carrier trying to hand over a heavy belt of ammunition. An older man made a wild kicking gesture with his foot, saying “Goodbye Saddam”.
**girls threw flower petals at young Marines leaning across gun turrets. One woman held her baby aloft. Tank crews picked the flowers from the tops of their fighting machines, smelt them and grinned. ** Crowds of Shia men beat their chests in the streets.
Ohhh at last the dream came true...
Re: And Finally there were the flowers.....
[QUOTE]
Originally posted by underthedome: *
* Crowds of Shia men beat their chests in the streets.**
[/QUOTE]
So Shias are the good guys now eh? weren't they the bad guys when Saddam was wasting them with chemical weapons a few years ago?
UDT
No they would have voted against us at the UN.
I find it interesting that this article was run by Al-Jazeera! Woooo
Anyone who has been bombed, maimed, killed and blown to bits in the last three weeks from air knows where their salvation lies. Throwing flowers at the invaders was the only way to save your skin. In a population of 5 million only a few thousand came out to throw flowers. Great victory and great parade.
Chosen0,
Perhaps decades of torture and slavery had something to do with the jubilation.
Between the Shia and the Kurds, they represent 70-80% of the country? And they have been impoverished, shot at with Saddam’s gunships, gassed, and ethnically cleansed.
BASRA, Iraq, April 8 – Adnan Shaker pulled up his shirt to reveal dozens of scars crisscrossing his chest. He turned to show the marks of cigarette burns on his back. He waved his misshapen right hand, two fingers twisted and useless. He grabbed the electric wire attached to the ceiling in the cell where he lived until a few days ago, and demonstrated how his jailers had tied his hands behind his back when they administered the shocks.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59091-2003Apr8.html
^
and now another decades of slavery and barbarianism is looming on their heads and this time it would be the liberators who will kill in the name of liberation and democracy :-)
as far as kurds and shias being the reps of iraq, what about red-indians and native indiand? who are the real owners of USA land but they are pushed into a corner and have nothing to say in any matter. i think they also need someone to liberate them from this white man's barbaric and inhumane rule :-)
[QUOTE]
Originally posted by al_nasar: *
What a load of c**, how many muslims have died in Iraq because of the invasion?
[/QUOTE]
How many have died thanks to Saddam?
Iraqis are cheering Americans, but people like you are full of hatred for Iraqis. If it was up to you, you would rather see 1 million Iraqis dies under Saddam then one Iraqi give his life for freedom of his country. Grow up.
Please do not speak for the Shias or for that matter any of the Iraqis. You don't know better then them the reality of their situation. Americans have almost liberated Iraq. If you can't be at least happy for the Iraqi's, it is better you say nothing.
Thank you.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Imdad Ali: *
Please do not speak for the Shias or for that matter any of the Iraqis. You don't know better then them the reality of their situation. Americans have almost liberated Iraq. If you can't be at least happy for the Iraqi's, it is better you say nothing.
Thank you.
[/QUOTE]
there's nothing to be happy for. i mean out of saddam's grip into american's hands. where exactly is the happy factor here?
:-)
[QUOTE]
Originally posted by EntityParadigm: *
there's nothing to be happy for. i mean out of saddam's grip into american's hands. where exactly is the **happy* factor here?
:-)
[/QUOTE]
Millions of people around the world would give their life to live in American hands. Can't say the same for Saddam. :-)