Hurt and disillusioned, some Arab fighters go home

Reuters | 4/09/03 | Mariam Karouny

[kattracks]

Hurt and disillusioned, some Arab fighters go home

By Mariam Karouny

BEIRUT, April 9 (Reuters) - Salaam went to Iraq to do battle with Americans and die a martyr. He returned home with shrapnel wounds and tales of fighting U.S. military might with a rifle.

From a Baghdad hotel he moved to a training camp where volunteers practised shooting and trench warfare. Then Salaam, 24 years old and unemployed, was sent to war.

"I was sleeping behind mounds of sand and firing from kalashnikovs on helicopters. It was craziness," he said.

"We stayed at the front five days and we didn't eat anything. I saw two dead bodies shot in the head."

Thousands of volunteers from across the Arab world are thought to be in Iraq to fight advancing U.S. and British forces. On Wednesday, Saddam Hussein's rule collapsed as jubilant Iraqis welcomed U.S. troops in Baghdad.

Salaam, a Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim, said he was unprepared for the hostility of some Iraqis to volunteers like himself.

"I went there to be a martyr, not to be murdered by a brother," he told Reuters. "We went there to help them liberate their country, and all they did was shoot us in the back."

"I am not afraid of the Americans. On the contrary I want to fight them. But I was scared of the Iraqis, specifically those who call themselves the Iraqi opposition," he said.

In Lebanon hundreds requested visas to enter Iraq via Syria. Others like Salaam, whose name means peace, went on their own.

"People must understand we went there for jihad. Iraq is a holy land and we must protect it," said Salaam, who returned to Beirut last week with shrapnel in his leg.

Muslims believe that those killed in jihad, or holy war, are martyrs who go straight to paradise.

The Muslim holy cities of Najaf and Kerbala, home to some of Shi'ite Islam's most revered shrines, were the scene of fierce fighting earlier in the 21-day-old war.

PROMISED PASSPORT, HOUSE, BRIDE

Salaam, who returned with a friend who did not want his name used, said Iraq had promised them an Iraqi passport, a house and an Iraqi bride after the war ended as a reward for fighting.

Salaam is not normally religious.

He said the closest he got to action against the Americans was to shoot a rocket propelled grenade at a tank.

"I feel I am stronger than a hero," Salaam said. "I thought when I saw an airplane I would flee, but I stayed and I waited for them and God gave me the strength."

The body of another volunteer was brought home last week. Crowds met his wooden coffin with flowers and rice in the narrow streets of Beirut's Bourj al-Barajneh Palestinian refugee camp.

The Lebanese volunteers who fought the Americans in Iraq, however briefly, say they are heroes.

"I am proud that I went. I also felt that my father was so happy that I left. He didn't say anything but he was proud," said Salaam's friend.

"Our friends see us as heroes. One of them told me he is scared of the Americans because they have warplanes and he hates the sound. But I told him that God is on our side."

04/09/03 07:26 ET

[blastbaby]

"We went there to help them liberate their country, and all they did was shoot us in the back."



HaHaHa- boy did he get that wrong.

[goldstategop]

Bwahahahaha!!! About the best news I've heard all year. The Jihadists being rejected by Iraqis. How 'bout that... they'll never live this down in the Arab world.

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[BunnySlippers]

"I am not afraid of the Americans. On the contrary I want to fight them. But I was scared of the Iraqis, specifically those who call themselves the Iraqi opposition," he said.

[JohnHuang2]

The Jihadists being rejected by Iraqis. How 'bout that... they'll never live this down in the Arab world.

Bump!

[DainBramage]

"But I told him that God is on our side."

Hey Genious, If God were on your side, your side wouldn't have lost 800 of 830 tanks and tens of thousands of men.

[duckman]

"We went there to help them liberate their country, and all they did was shoot us in the back."

Next time call first, you dipstick.

[Beck_isright]

"I went there to be a martyr, not to be murdered by a brother," he told Reuters. "We went there to help them liberate their country, and all they did was shoot us in the back."

Duh. They didn't want Sadamn or you pigs around. They are actually intelligent people who have been repressed by a brutal dictator. All of the "martyrs" should be given their wish.

"I am not afraid of the Americans. On the contrary I want to fight them. But I was scared of the Iraqis, specifically those who call themselves the Iraqi opposition," he said."

You should be afraid. We'll be in Beirut soon enough.

V

[Conspiracy Guy]

Boohoo. Wish you were dead.

[LS]

Wait! Come back. We aren't finished killing all you guys yet.

[Aquinasfan]

Then Salaam, 24 years old and unemployed, was sent to war.

Key word.

[johniegrad]

We stayed at the front five days and we didn't eat anything.

He meets all criteria to become a Zimbabwe war veteran.

[Jonx6]

"I feel I am stronger than a hero," Salaam said. "I thought when I saw an airplane I would flee, but I stayed and I waited for them and God gave me the strength."

Easy to say from Lebanon.

[RightOnline]

Just how incredibly stupid can these dweebs be, anyway?

[goldstategop]

They swallowed all that Al Jazeera propaganda about endless Iraqi victories as the gospel truth. The rest is history.

[Bluntpoint]

"Just how incredibly stupid can these dweebs be, anyway?"

They have signs on their front lawns:

DRAFT GORE!!!

[FreedomPoster]

>>They swallowed all that Al Jazeera propaganda about endless Iraqi victories as the gospel truth.

That's a key point. These people set themselves up for insanity. There was a story last night of a captured Iraqi officer, taken to a hanger at the airport (which Baghdad Bob had assured them had been retaken by the Effete Republican Guard), breaking down, starting to cry, asking, "how long have they been lying to us?"

Not good for your mental health.

[Restorer]

Being unemployed at 24 in an Arab country is not at all like being unemployed at 24 in America.