I say, BRING IT ON, M*****F*****S!!!
“I have no more fear now. From the moment Iraq was liberated I felt as though my two sons had been brought back to me.”
A woman whose 17-year-old son, Sardar Osman Faraj, was executed in Iraq in 1985 and another was killed by unknown assassins in 1992. Los Angeles Times, 6/8/03
“Every day I buy a different paper. I like them all.”
Ali Jabar, 28, picking up a Kurdish daily newly available in Iraq, Washington Post, 6/8/03
“It's a big change. We used to get central instructions from the Ministry of Information. Now we no longer do. Azzaman is independent. It lets the readers learn and decide the political currents.”
Abdel-Majid, of the Azzaman newspaper in Iraq, Washington Post, 6/8/03
“Newspapers are not the only forum being used to express political views in postwar Iraq. The walls of the capital – once decorated with portraits of Saddam Hussein – have become a battleground for competing ideas. They even show a sense of humor. In Baghdad this week, the following was neatly written in marker on the back of a double-decker bus: ‘Very urgent, wanted: New president for Iraq.’”
Washington Post, 6/8/03
“Things have changed. There’s not the same fear. I didn’t see my future here before. Now, maybe I do.”
Ardelan Karim, who unsuccessfully attempted to flee Iraq four times after escaping Saddam’s executioners, The New York Times, 06/05/03
“This is like a dream for us. The Americans liberated us and gave us our freedom. We hope they stay to protect the minorities like us.”
Emir Farooq Saeed Ali Beg, a member of the formerly persecuted Yazidi tribe, The Times (London), 06/05/03
“We are all very happy and comfortable. This is the freedom we want.”
Yizmak Askander Abu, a teacher in Rassalin, The Times (London), 06/05/03
"It is a good beginning. The people will feel better when their bellies are filled. They will calm down. They will see what is possible. Thank you, George Bush. Thank you, America.”
Kissan Bahjet, distributing a new shipment of rations to his fellow Iraqis, The Washington Post, 06/02/03
“I never allowed myself to live all these years. Every day I thought, now they’re going to come and take me. I was always waiting.”
Nasir al-Husseini, 22, who survived a mass execution at age 10, The New York Times, 06/01/03
“For the first time in Iraq, democratic processes are put in place to elect government officials. Democratic elections are a new phenomenon in today’s Iraq. True democracy appears with the absence of dictatorships and tyranny.”
The Iraqi newspaper Al Naba, 06/01/03
“God willing, the guilty will be punished.”
An elderly Iraqi man at the site of a mass grave, The Daily Telegraph (London), 06/01/03
“Freedom means to travel, to get the job I want, to study in the college I want.”
Ahmed al-Samarai, a citizen of Iraq, Associated Press, 5/29/03
“No one knows what freedom means. When [we] were born, we opened our eyes to Saddam and everything was forbidden. Our life was all about fear.”
Salima al-Majali, a citizen of Iraq, Associated Press, 5/29/03
“All we have known is war, war and war. Everything was forbidden.”
Suad al-Saham, a Shiite Muslim in Iraq, Associated Press, 5/29/03
“I couldn’t teach the students the truth. I was unable to tell them that we were ruled by a dictator. If I did, my neck would be on the line.”
Wijda Khalidi, an Iraqi schoolteacher, Associated Press, 5/29/03
“I cannot describe how I am glad. After so many years of dictatorship, we have chosen our own leader.”
Kemal Kerkuki, after participating in the election of Kirkuk’s new mayor, The New York Times, 5/29/03
“I’m not going to mention his name in class anymore. No more Saddam.”
Naheda Muhammad Nage, an Iraqi schoolteacher, The New York Times, 05/28/03
“What Naheda Muhammad Nage did to the textbook she uses to teach social studies here was just as dramatic as the toppling of Saddam Hussein statues or the looting of Saddam Hussein palaces that took place after the American-led invasion of Iraq. Ms. Nage used a pen to cross out passages that focused on Mr. Hussein, the Baath Party he represented and his many supposed achievements. It was an act that could have led to her death just a few months ago.”
The New York Times, 05/28/03
“Now that Iraq is free, we are demanding freedom and equal rights that Iraqi women have always been deprived of.”
Eman Ahmed, member of the Rising Iraqi Women’s Organization, Associated Press, 5/21/03
“I can tell you all these things now because we are free. Before, we lived like exiles in our own country.”
Suhaib Abbas Majeed, an Iraqi medical student, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 5/21/03
“Chosen by representatives of the various ethnic groups in town, the council meets twice a week to discuss everything from what to do with unexploded ordnance lying around town to what to do with the remaining Baathist functionaries. Trade with Syria has been reopened, schools are functioning, and police are patrolling together with the Americans.”
Description of the city of Mosul, Christian Science Monitor, 5/21/03
“This is the first time in our lives we have experienced democracy. It is a beautiful thing. Everyone is excited. Everyone is here. …Not complaining. Coming to vote.”
Rabaab Mahmoud Kassar, a female attorney in Najaf who participated in the election of the town’s new judges, The Washington Post, 5/21/03
“The Iraqi people tried but failed to remove Saddam Hussein for 35 years. It was a difficult task, and we thank the Americans.”
Sayyed Bashir al-Musawi, an Iraqi cleric in northern Baghdad, The Dallas Morning News, 5/20/03
“Every day in Iraq a few more newspapers start publishing, taking advantage of the first freedom of speech most Iraqis have ever known.”
The Times (London), 5/20/03
“We’ve been living in jail for three decades. Now, we are free. Help is coming. Day by day, life is for the better.”
Saddam Agil, grandfather of five and resident of Basra, USA Today, 5/20/03
"Before we used to commemorate the day hidden at home, we were afraid of Saddam's agents who were everywhere and spied on us. Today I feel happy."
Faithela Asam, an Iraqi Shiite, on publicly celebrating the birthday of Mohamed for the first time in decades, Agence France Presse, 5/19/03
"There is more freedom and more openness. ...we can express ourselves freely and without threats."
Ali al-Fatlawi, a former Iraqi government reporter who now writes for the independent Iraqi newspaper Assaah, Associated Press, 5/19/03
"We are a free voice that does not belong to any party. We wanted this channel to be free and speak in the name of all Iraqi people."
Khalil al-Tayar, director of the new Karbala Television station, Associated Press, 5/19/03
"Good, good, good."
Iraqi children called as they ran up to U.S. troops, Christian Science Monitor, 5/19/03
"We love you."
An Iraqi citizen in Mosul, speaking to L. Paul Bremer III, the new U.S. civilian administrator for Iraq, Los Angeles Times, 5/19/03
"We can say anything we want in public. Now we’re free."
Safaz al Hellou, an Iraqi teenager, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 5/19/03
"Some people say we issued declarations against the Americans. But they are lying. We want to thank the coalition troops. We want them to demonstrate the rebuilding. We will give them a chance to do that."
Ali Rubaii, a representative for one of the four most powerful clerics in Iraq, Washington Post, 5/15/03
"This is the first attempt for us to run our town by ourselves. We are ready to rebuild our town, and we are ready to rebuild our country."
Najim Abed Mahdi, a chairman of the Umm Qasr interim town council, The Guardian (London), 5/15/03
"The Iraqi teams used to produce the champions of Asia in many sports. They have declined since the arrival of Uday. Now we want to rebuild them with the help of the international community."
Sharar Haydar, president of the newly formed Free Iraq Olympic Group and one of Uday Hussein's former torture victims, The Guardian (London), 5/15/03
"It was not the usual start to a new school term. ‘Open your books and turn to page four,’ the teacher instructed the pupils sitting in the gloom of an unlit classroom. Obediently they flicked through the pages until they reached the familiar photograph of a smiling Saddam Hussein standing in front of an Iraqi flag. ‘Now rip it out,’ the teacher said, to the astonishment of her pupils."
The Times (London), 5/14/03
"They couldn't leave one job for another without having both a letter from their old employer releasing them from their job and another letter from their new employer accepting them. It blows their minds when we tell them they should just do what they want, they don't need our permission or anybody else's to change jobs."
Sgt. Mark Hadsell, describing some Iraqis’ difficulties with freedom after living in a under Saddam Hussein, Scripps Howard News Service, 5/14/03
"Trained under the old government that put Uday Hussein, one of Saddam’s sons, in charge of the Union of Journalists, the reporters and editors of Al Azzaman are used to being forbidden to use certain words, like ‘democracy,’ or to examine certain issues, like the oil industry. Almost every day, someone asks Mr. (Saad) Bazzaz if it is all right to criticize some public figure or another."
New York Times, 5/13/03
"The Americans did not come just to help the Kurds. (Still) it's great to be free."
Ryzgar Azhi , in an Erbil tea house, New York Times, 5/13/03
"This is the happiest moment we all felt. It’s a primordial feeling -- this tyrant coming down."
Yussra Hussen, San Francisco Chronicle, 5/12/03
"I am happy that Saddam is gone. The teachers told me to love Saddam. My parents told me he was a bad man."
Dina, 7, U.S. News & World Report, 5/12/03
"We are not fighting anybody. We will not raise our weapons because freedom is within our sight. We want an Iraqi government that represents all Iraqis. Sunni and Shia Muslims, Kurds, Turcomans and religious minorities -- they will have their rights in this land."
Returned Iraqi exile Ayatollah Hakim, speech to Iraqis in Najaf, London Daily Telegraph, 5/12/03
"It is best the USA removed this criminal man (Saddam)."
Sheik Al-Bo Aiesa Muzahin Ali Kareem, a clan leader who turned over weapons in a gesture of good will, Associated Press, 5/12/03
"Beautiful, beautiful. Not Iraqi TV. Not Saddam Hussein TV. Beautiful."
Akhbal Ibrahim Rashid watching her satellite dish-equipped television, Los Angeles Times, 5/9/03
"We want to know everything, not just about Iraq but about the whole world. Sales are very good. What was prohibited is wanted."
Amir abu Abdullah, an overnight dish salesman whose shop is his battered 1982 Chevrolet Celebrity, Los Angeles Times, 5/9/03
"The first time in my whole life I've seen such things. I feel free."
Yasir Abdul Razaq, 20, said while watching British news, Israeli news and a program from Abu Dhabi about lions, Los Angeles Times, 5/9/03
"In Iraq’s heady new atmosphere of freedom, political parties have launched newspapers, radio stations and small private armies. They are scrambling to woo voters with promises of democracy, prosperity and free phone calls to relatives abroad. After three decades of official repression, a cacophonous jumble of long-dormant ideologies has come tumbling out into the daylight of the country’s unshackled political marketplace."
Chicago Tribune, 5/9/03
"All my life I have been escaping. So I have dreamed of freedom, of traveling abroad, of feeling life the way all young people do. Maybe now I will."
Mohammed Khadum, 28, in Baghdad, Washington Post, 5/8/03
~~~