AMMAN DISPATCH Speak Easy (Iraqi exiles happy, Palis angry)

New Republic Online ^ | 04/10/03 | Hassan Fattah

[TigerLikesRooster]

AMMAN DISPATCH

Speak Easy

by Hassan Fattah

Only at TNR Online

Post date: 04.10.03

The most important thing you learned in Saddam's Iraq was how to say nothing. In a land where serious opinions got you executed and flippant ones got you thrown in jail, communication centered around what was not being said rather than what was.

So it was that on Wednesday, when Saddam's fall appeared all but definite, the throngs of Iraqis taking refuge in Jordan's capital carefully began the process of rediscovering their voices. Thousands gathered in downtown Amman's Hashemite Square, cautiously congratulating each other and quietly arguing the implications of what they saw on TV. Many peered round the square, out of habit scoping the scene for dreaded Iraqi secret police agents who patrolled the Amman circles. Then with a nudge, friends reminded each other that times had changed. They were finally free.

"We have not been living. We have not been able to survive," said Hadi, 28, who asked his last name not be used, just in case Saddam makes a comeback. "We have had no money, we've been exhausted and our future has been dark."

As he spoke, others gathered round, struggling to say something, anything, and giddily peering at each other. Some hoped for better economic conditions and the chance for good work. Others worried how long the scenes of looting would continue, and just how safe things would really be. But most simply longed to go home, to clean up and begin anew.

"I hope God takes him to Hell," retorted Hadi's friend Muhsin, almost giddy at his newfound boldness. "Look around, we are all from the south (of Iraq). There is no talk of Sunni or Shia between us, we just want these terrible days to be over and to go home."

For Mansour, 19, home was the problem. Of eight in his family from Nasiriya, only he, his mother, and one brother remained. Two of his brothers were executed for not enlisting in the army, and the others had disappeared into Saddam's prisons, never to be heard from again, after the 1991 uprising in southern Iraq. "I will go to Baghdad now, I think. There will be work there. There will be a future."

It certainly wasn't the kind of talk that most of the other residents of Amman wanted to hear. Clear across town, the jubilation and celebration was particularly unpalatable for Jordanians and Palestinians who warned of a new colonial power in their midst. The funeral of Al Jazeera correspondent Ahmad Ayoub, killed by an American bomb that hit Al Jazeera's offices several days earlier, became an opportunity to speak out against the war. As Al Jazeera luminaries and correspondents piled into the University of Jordan mosque, the talk amongst many mourners was of a conspiracy. Some who had just come in from Baghdad spoke of Iraqi republican guards manning U.S. checkpoints. Others spoke of American tanks being destroyed along the way. The good news was all a cover-up, many stressed.

"How could thousands of troops just simply disappear without a fight?," one wondered. "What nobody is talking about are the thousands of U.S. prisoners of war that are hidden," another said. "The fighting is continuing and there are still fighters resisting," yet another suggested.

With the coffin behind them, the hundreds of mourners marched towards the cemetery chanting, "Palestine, oh Palestine, the salesman sold for cheap." "The Arab leaders are their agents," they shouted, "Shame on you, you sold Jerusalem for just a dollar."

But for the time being, at least, the Iraqi émigrés will hold onto their newfound freedom.

Hassan Fattah is a correspondent with the Associated Press based in Jerusalem.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Two different groups of Arabs in Amman, Jordan.

[goldstategop]

The religious divide between Iraq's Shiites and the Sunni Palestinians is likely to deepen the animosity between them.

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[UCFRoadWarrior]

I bet Assad and Arafat are in Democrat-Denial mode, too.

Maybe someday the rest of the Islamic world will understand, and get to share, the same feeling Iraqis are presently enjoying

[FITZ]

Some of the Arab-Muslims are very difficult to understand. They actually don't mind seeing their fellow Arab-Muslims suffer and live under a dictatorship that bad, and they think it somehow serves their purpose.

[expatpat]

These are the same people who used the children of their own land as human shields, and send their own children out to kill themselves with a bomb. What a sickness they have! How can Allah think they are anything but evil?

[SHKMAN1212]

"How could thousands of troops just simply disappear without a fight?," one wondered. "What nobody is talking about are the thousands of U.S. prisoners of war that are hidden," another said. "The fighting is continuing and there are still fighters resisting," yet another suggested.

Hang up the talk about massive US casualties or hidden POWs. It doesn't have anything to do with conspiracies. It may take awhile, but they'll finally come around to the truth: American forces are really that good.