Posted on 12/21/2005 5:46:51 AM PST by Mannaggia l'America
VALLEY FORGE - An Iraqi couple visiting the United States is speaking out about conditions under Saddam Hussein and why they are grateful he has been removed from power.
Yousif Mitty, the founder and director of the Evangelical Church of Iraq, is in the United States as a speaker at several engagements. His wife, Alia Mitty, a Kirkuk native who built a women's education center in the war-torn country, made the journey with him.
The Mittys lived in Kirkuk, just south of the United Nations no-fly zone in Iraq. Several years ago, they say, they began making furtive trips into Kurdistan, Northern Iraq, to aid the Kurds. According to Yousif Mitty, several times during their mission trips into the Kurdish city, the couple, who shared the Bible with Kurds, came under fire.
Yousif Mitty, who was born in Baghdad, described one incident during which he was forced to hide behind cars to avoid being shot.
They continued their secret missions until they received word that Saddam Hussein's security forces had learned of their trips. "We were warned by a friend who had contact with Saddam's security," said Yousif Mitty, who said the couple was told they were going to be arrested.
Leaving everything behind, the couple made a "quick decision" to flee Kirkuk and reside in Kurdistan, where they continue to teach the word of God.
Yousif Mitty, who first came to the United States in 1998, said Kurdistan is a highly secure area. Anyone wishing to enter the area must show identification and provide recommendations and a reason for the visit.
Explosions are very rare, according to Yousif Mitty, who said in the last three years, there have been "maybe five or six."
With no insurgents in Kurdistan who will kill or torture those friendly to American military personnel, he says, American troops are treated warmly by Iraqi citizens. They are asked to have meals with Iraqis families and often have their meals paid for by Iraqi patrons of the restaurant.
"Americans sit in restaurants, drink a Coke or have a bite with people they don't know," said Yousif Mitty.
The media, he said, is focusing on certain issues, including the often-asked-for withdrawal of troops from the country. He said the American news media has overblown negative aspects of the War on Terror, and fails to adequately focus on the positive.
"They say, 'Not everybody has a job,' or they have someone who will say, 'Three years now and I don't have a job,'" he said. "The journalist needs to ask what they did before. (The journalist) will find out they were part of Saddam's security."
Yousif Mitty said there are not just three or four unemployed former Saddam security guards, but thousands.
"Sure he would say, 'No I don't have a job,' no one wants to give him a job," he said. "They hurt the country so badly."
Yousif Mitty, who is a geologist with Northern Oil, himself served 10 years in Saddam's army during the Iraq-Iran War. "It's not an option," he said. "It's not volunteer."
His wife, Alia Mitty, is a physicist who formerly worked with an Iraqi governor. She worked for three years as a professor at a technical institute before devoting her life to aiding women and children.
Yousif Mitty said a large number of Iraqi citizens are against the withdrawal of American troops for fear insurgents will rise up and create another dictatorship.
"Praise the Lord, through American help we got rid of Saddam's regime, but we do not want another regime," he said.
On Thursday: How Iraq has changed, the Iraqi election and hopes for the future.
©The Phoenix 2005
But that doesn't fit into the journalist's agenda...
That was the most telling sentence I've heard in some time. The Phoenix is a local paper to me. Thank you for posting this article.
I am not far from Valley Forge Park and visit frequently. One only has to peruse through the guest register to see the vast amount of foreign visitors to the park. It is a symbol of freedom, freedom won through sacrifice.
Me too. It's where I grew up. I live outside of the borough boundaries right now in one of the townships, but Phoenixville is my mailing address (we don't have a post office, so we get serviced by that post office).
This missionary:
he related to Walter?
Well, another interesting point of view. We've been told that the Christians had an easier time of it under Saddam. I'm sure that's true as far as it goes. But that didn't extend to this couple's missionary activies, their freedom to worship and share their faith as they chose. It's good that we're there and helping them win their freedom...
:-)
That print hangs in my home.
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