Misinformation? If true, should he have given that sort of info to reporters?
March 28 — In an effort to learn what it's like to live in a besieged Baghdad, ABCNEWS' Barbara Walters sat down with five survivors of the bombing in the last Gulf War. Young adults now, they were children when American bombs rained from the sky in 1991. They tell her what they experienced, and what children currently in the Iraqi capital will probably be facing.
[snip] Over 43 days and nights, hundreds of bombs fell on Baghdad. Amer was 13 and says he was unafraid.
"I used to count the bombs that dropped. I used to go and tell everyone, 'Oh, today they dropped seven bombs,' " he said. "You went to sleep every night thinking, 'Tomorrow, I am either going to be free, or I am going to be dead.' "
His sister Maha, now a medical doctor, was 15. "I remember very well that my father said, 'Don't panic, we don't even have to go to the shelter,' " she said. "And actually, we stood behind the windows, watching the cruise missiles hitting the Ministry of Defense, across the river from us." [snip]
In Saddam Hussein's Iraq, fear is a daily part of life, and it begins early. Schoolchildren are trained to show love for their leader. The indoctrination begins at a young age, and parents warn their children that even mild expressions of discontent could draw brutal punishment.
"We had to carry this responsibility with us since we were young," said Mohammed. "You were a kid, but you were responsible. You know that your entire family's fate lies in your hands." [snip]
Now bombs are falling on Baghdad again. Watching from half a world away, these young people hope that this time, the outcome of the war will be different.
"When I saw that, I felt tears in my eyes," said Amer. "But for the first time, they were the tears of joy. Because every Iraqi has been waiting for that moment for a long, long time. I am almost a quarter of a century old, and I've been waiting for this day. … I was happy. He is going to be gone."
Maha thinks Iraqis are ready to overthrow tyranny forever. "I think the moment the Iraqis realize that Saddam is powerless [has come], and they're not going to be let down again," she said. "They will rebel. Definitely. This is the way that they've been waiting for."
As to the prospects for establishing a democratic government in Iraq, Amer said: "I think it's condescending of people to say that democracy can't work in Iraq." Amer said Iraqis living in exile will be ready to help build demoracy in the their homeland.
"There are about 4 million Iraqis who have lived all over the world in democratic and free societies," he said. "And each and every one of them is prepared at a moment's notice, to drop everything and go back." Complete story
I can't imagine being 10 years old, leaving the house scared that if I say the wrong thing my entire family could be killed. This group isn't really young adults - they've been adults for their entire lives.