"I went there to be a martyr, not to be murdered by a brother," he told Reuters. "We went there to help them liberate their country, and all they did was shoot us in the back."
What a naive little doof. Other quotations, direct and indirect, explain much better why he left, since his opportunity to die a martyr never disappeared had he really wanted to take advantage of it:
1. It was uncomfortable. "I was sleeping behind mounds of sand and firing from kalashnikovs on helicopters. It was craziness," he said.
2. It was scary and unpleasant. "We stayed at the front five days and we didn't eat anything. I saw two dead bodies shot in the head."
3. I didn't get what I really wanted. "Salaam, who returned with a friend who did not want his name used, said Iraq had promised them an Iraqi passport, a house and an Iraqi bride after the war ended as a reward for fighting."
4. "Salaam is not normally religious." No, he's usually opportunistic and self-serving.