It's a sad day when an American has to read news from other countries to get an idea of what his country's doing that's NOT being reported at home. We used to joke (back in the bad old days of the Cold War) about how TASS and Pravda only presented one side of the issues to citizens of the U.S.S.R. How much worse is it when American media outlets refuse to print anything that puts the American government in a favorable light? TASS and Pravda were, at least, rooting for their OWN COUNTRY, instead of against it!
A recent article in the Hindu Business Line (a Madras-based business newspaper, of all places), For This Iraqi, It's Thank You, Bush, contains a few quotes from an interview with a 45-year old teacher from Baghdad:
"The Americans are good for two reasons: First, because they got rid of Saddam Hussein, and second, because they have provided safety and security for the people of Baghdad."
Another reason for which Anwaar and her neighbours are grateful to the Americans is the unearthing of an ammunition depot in their neighbourhood. "Saddam Hussein had kept a huge amount of ammunition here. But someone tipped the Americans and they came and cleared the whole place. Had a single lighted matchstick been thrown in that place, the whole area would have blown up, killing -- Allah alone knows -- how many innocent people."
She insists that things are much better in Baghdad and the situation is improving by the day. "Even you can go around safely in Baghdad; just avoid going out at nights and be very careful about your purse. But otherwise, Baghdad is a safe place, particularly for women like me."
She recalls with a shudder the horrific times under Saddam Hussein. "He was a tyrant of the worst kind. Nobody can imagine how bad he was. Let me give you an example. Under the `Food for Oil' programme, we used to get supplies of medicines, some of it meant for the sick children in our hospitals. But Saddam would seize the supplies and instruct paediatric departments or children's hospitals that the medicine should not be given to the children and they should be allowed to die. He would order that once 20 children were dead, their janazas (coffins) should be taken out together so the world could be led to believe that these children were being killed due to the UN sanctions on Iraq. He was heartless. Loads of expired medicines would be thrown away instead of treating sick children. That is why I would like to say: Thank you Mr Bush for getting rid of Saddam."
Anwaar is sore at the Iraqis who curse the Americans. "There were only two entities who could have saved Iraq from Saddam: God or the Americans. God did not listen to our prayers."
Future generations of free Iraqis will be glad that someone did.
* C2H5OH is the chemical composition of alcohol.