Posted on 06/25/2004 7:25:16 PM PDT by saquin
BAGHDADI, Iraq — Sheik Ammar Obeidi is a marked man, threatened with death for siding with the Americans in the bloody fight for Iraq's future.
He knew it from the get-go, and he accepted it as the price of his beliefs. After all, he noted, there also was a time in the early days of the United States when patriots risked their lives.
Grateful for his allegiance, Americans in turn have grubstaked Obeidi in a campaign to try to sway fence-sitters among his countrymen. The result is one of those can-you-believe-this occurrences: a Marine Corps-financed, Iraqi-published newspaper now in circulation from Baghdad west through cities and towns such as Ramadi, Hit and Baghdadi.
"Few people here know the meaning of freedom," the sheik said over a lunch of kebabs and barbecued chicken. "This simple word that every American child knows the meaning of — here, it is misused to mean the freedom to steal or the freedom to kill. The purpose of this newspaper is to teach people the true meaning of the word, to teach them this simple thing."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
What an amazing man. He sounds like our founding fathers. He has a way with words, it sounds as though it is poetry.
This wonderful sheik knows the difference between freedom and license. Which is more than one can say about a past president.
Just think. The Iraqi Federalist Papers!!
Becki
Maybe some great leaders will emerge to lead Iraq out of the abyss. (If they are not slaughtered).
That spirit is exactly what this world needs.
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