[Ragtime Cowgirl]

So what did the first year of life without Saddam mean to those in the cafe yesterday?

 

Mr. Safer had only kind words for President Bush. 

 

"He did good to get rid of the former regime. It's as if a huge boulder was removed from the chest of the Iraqi people.."

 

"Freedom, just freedom. Not money. Not work. Just the freedom," said Abdul Hady Finjan, 51, a poet.

Art Critic Adil Al-Saffar, left, and poet Abdel Hady Finjan, right, discuss the day's news on the eve of the anniverary of the US-led invasion of Iraq at the Hassan Ajmi tea house in Baghdad.
Maya Alleruzzo (THE WASHINGTON TIMES)

 

[marron]

Asked to describe freedom, Mr. Awith answered: "Marvelous. So nice, so lovely, like beautiful music but with slow dancing."

Yeah, me too.

[shield]

Interesting

[McGavin999]

The Iraqis are smart people. They will look at the mistakes we made and how we fixed those mistakes and will know that they don't have to make that same mistake in order to learn.

[concentric circles]

Beautiful!

Reminds me of a televised interview of an Iraqi dentist and his wife. She commented, "Now we can speak what we think and it creates a feeling of happiness."

[Allegra]

I love to see things like this.

I also love to hear them tell me firsthand how they love freedom after all of the horrible things they endured for so long. Their faces light up. They're wonderful people, so polite and friendly. All of the Iraqis I encounter seem to genuinely love the U.S. and all it represents.

This is the sort of thing that ramps up my American pride. :)