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Newcastle Herald (Australia)
April 11, 2003 Friday
Dream Of Freedom
By Michael Condon
WHILE Mustafa Al-Mudafer felt a sense of jubilation as he watched the television last night, he was not about to wave the American flag. The Maitland-based Iraqi had mixed feelings as he saw Saddam Hussein's regime crumble before his eyes.
"I'm very jubilant. I feel somehow relieved," he said yesterday. "After 35 years of suppression, the Iraqi people can start to breathe again. But I'm very cynical about this issue."
Mr Al-Mudafer said he hated the dictator but he did not want to see Iraq occupied by the US. "I don't think the US will put in place a democracy because a democracy won't serve them [the US]," he said.
Mr Al-Mudafer was just six years old when Saddam, with the Ba'ath party behind him, took power. Growing up in Basra, he remembers the time when, on the last day of the Muslim holy month Ramadan, Ba'ath party agents gave his aunt the death certificate of his uncle, and then asked her to pay for the bullet. But the kebab shop owner does not want Saddam Hussein dead he wants him humiliated.
"I'd love to see him not killed, but in a courtroom, with all his ministers and other henchmen," he said. "We need true justice. He needs to be humiliated."
But Saddam and his followers are not the only ones he believes should be on trial.
"All those dictators such as Hitler and Stalin built their strength within their own country but Saddam was armed by outside powers, outside countries with interests."
Mr Al-Mudafer said countries such as the US, Russia, France, England and Yugoslavia should have to answer to providing the dictator with arms, including chemical weapons, which allowed him to kill as many as 2million Iraqis. The years of oppression have made Mr Al-Mudafer cynical, but he feels a sense of hope as the statues of the Iraqi dictator are brought down across his homeland.
"I am hopeful... We'd love to see a free Iraq," Mr Al-Mudafer said.
The English-educated chemical engineer has lived in Australia for nearly 11 years and calls the country home, but now he, along with his wife and three children, may again set foot inside his country of origin.
"If I see justice in Iraq I may think about going back."
From your post:
Mr Al-Mudafer was just six years old when Saddam, with the Ba'ath party behind him, took power. Growing up in Basra, he remembers the time when, on the last day of the Muslim holy month Ramadan, Ba'ath party agents gave his aunt the death certificate of his uncle, and then asked her to pay for the bullet.From FR Patriot Rally Action Report, March 2003
She went into her rant about Bush being evil again. I stopped her and asked her how come she was supporting a mass murderer (Saddam). I told her about Aziz Al-Taee's cousin who was cut into little pieces, delivered to his house in a bag, and the family was presented with a bill for the bullets. If the family complained, someone else would be shot.
"I don't know about everyone else, but all these names are running together in my head by now. That may be because I haven't bothered to keep good notes on "who's who," plus I'm popping in and out of this thing with no real consistency. I keep saying my time would be better spent creating a reference document with links to summarize this 1800-reply thread, but I haven't had time yet."
Amen, I'm in the same boat. Can someone do a summary? Then it could be posted on the main site as an article and start a new thread!! LOL But seriously, an up to date summary would be greatly appreciated.