Posted on 04/02/2003 10:05:50 PM PST by Shermy
BASHUR, Iraq - He claims he refused to fight for Saddam Hussein. Now he says he is battling to survive.
Mustafa Ibrahim Nasar appeared this week outside an airstrip being transformed by U.S. forces into a main staging point in the Western-protected Kurdish region. Kurdish guards would not let the 33-year-old man approach U.S. paratroopers to tell his story.
"What do you want?" the Kurdish sentry barked.
"I just want some help," Nasar replied in Arabic typical of Iraq's southern Euphrates River valley. "Maybe the Americans will help me."
Nasar gave up without argument. He was too weak and too hungry. He shuffled to the roadside, which he says has been his home since he fled Nasiriyah rather than accept forced conscription into the pro-Saddam militias.
War creates many stories: some of bravery, some of misery. Others — like Naser's — are rooted in the pitiful uncertainty and helplessness of wartime. It's impossible to verify Naser's account of his wanderings or the events he described. But it is clear he is alone and adrift while U.S.-led forces push toward the capital of his country.
"I don't want to fight," said Nasar, who is so thin his pants sag down to his hips. "I only want a place to rest until the day this is over."
Hours after the first U.S. cruise missile strikes on Baghdad, groups loyal to Saddam began rounding up fighting-age men in Nasiriyah, Naser said. He immediately decided to flee, called his parents and headed north to Mosul, just 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the autonomous Kurdish region.
But his destination was Turkey, where he once worked and hoped to find assistance. He said he followed a well-known smugglers' route through Syria into southeastern Turkey.
"I thought Turkey would take me in as a refugee," he said.
Instead, he claimed Turkish authorities sent him back to the Kurdish zone on Saturday. But, again, he said he could find no aid.
Turkey, which received tens of thousands of refugees during the 1991 Gulf War (news - web sites), has warned it could sent troops into northern Iraq to block any refugee surge in the current conflict. Kurdish authorities, meanwhile, say their plans to help displaced Iraqis are complicated by a severe lack of tents and other humanitarian items.
Nasar said he spent the last several nights sleeping in mosques before he arrived Tuesday at the U.S.-occupied air base, about 40 kilometers (24 miles) northeast of the Kurdish administrative capital of Irbil.
All his possessions were in a plastic bag: a photocopy of his birth records, some aspirin, a wad of Baghdad-issued dinars that are worthless in the Kurdish area. Shampoo and a thin cake of soap were stuffed in the pocket of his jacket.
Kurdish translators said his accent was characteristic of Nasiriyah and he knew all the important landmarks of the city, where U.S. troops have struggled against guerrilla resistance to keep control of a key bridge over the Euphrates linking Kuwait and Baghdad. In Qatar, U.S. Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks said Tuesday that civilians in Nasiriyah were starting to assist U.S. special forces find the bodies of pro-Saddam fighters.
Some commentators suggest the U.S.-led coalition counted on a popular anti-Saddam uprising to pave their way to Baghdad. Nasar claimed the intimidation from Saddam's backers, particularly his Baath Party, was immediate and severe.
"Believe me, most people want Saddam gone," he said. "But people are forced to fight for Saddam or they will be shot. It is true. We are all too afraid of the Baath Party."
Nasar gathered his things. Maybe a Kurdish family will take him in, he hoped.
"God willing, Saddam will die so I can go back to my city," he said.
About 10 minutes later, he flagged down a passing car and was gone
They want to make "damned sure" the gook is graveyard dead, his sons are buried underneath him, and his top goons are sucking sand before they openly come out in opposition again.
Don't blame them.
Forced conscription is a given in this war. We know that family members have been threatened to get the men to fight. We have seen examples where Iraqis have even been forced to run roadblocks. This cost about nine people their lives yesterday or the day before. The problem is, what can our men do but defend themselves? In short nothing.
On FoxNews this afternoon one of the general consultants estimated that 25,000 Iraqi men had been killed on one of the fronts. I'm sure all of you remember the thousands and thousands of men who surrendered in 1991. Today those men have been blocked from surrendering. Instead they stay with the main Iraqi military body and get blown to smithereens.
Look folks, don't get me wrong. When our men face a force in front of them, they have no choice but to inhialate anyone who opposes them. I think it's pretty bad to think that thousands of these men are being killed, when they didn't even want to fight the United States' troops.
Am I glad it's them instead of our men? You bet your arse. Am I glad that some family with nothing will be losing dads, sons and brothers? No I am not.
This is probably one of the most tragic wars we have fought. There is much to rejoice for in that our men are not dying in large numbers. I wouldn't change that for anything. That doesn't stop me from lamenting a situation which sees many many innocents killed by the devices of a mad genocidal tyrant. This is precisely what Hussein did during the Iraq Iran war too. Those men didn't want to fight. Over 500,000 Iraqi men were sent off to their deaths on the whim of a tyrant with a Euphrates Julip in his hands.
May God have mercy on the innocents.
If we hadn't taken the action we have, thousands would have died at the hands of Hussein and his henchmen anyway. This is one hell of a situation.
I lay this war smack-dab at the feet of the United Nations!
Can we teach them that? Do we have the time and the will? I hope so.
WE can teach them that. The problems will come when the money-smelling French, Germans, and Russians start weasling in under the guise of "wanting to help."
The U.N. is the scourge of the earth.
Look, there's no denying this reality. I certainly don't have any remorse for deceased terrorists. I'm just not convinced that all these folks coming up against us are terrorists. We're doing what we have to. I just think it's a shame we have to.
Thanks for the graphic response.
Can we teach them? Yes, we can lead them to the water.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.