Letter from Iraq

email | September 9, 2003 | Ahmad Al-Attar

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Dear XXXXXXX,

I’m the one who should thank you very much for your lovely email! It is great to know that there are people in the world who do not know you and do not need to care about you, yet their kindness and humanity spread across continents wide to bring back hope in our frail souls giving us the energy we need to carry on and never give up no matter how hopeless the situation seem. God bless all the brave men and women who sacrificed their lives to help us, and God bless all those who are continuing to do their best to make Iraq a democratic and free nation. Amen.

You know, liberty may be such a simple word and can be taken for granted in many places around the world, but the truth is: there is nothing more precious than the sense of being free…it is simply indescribable! The day Saddam’s infamous statue fell which marked the end of the tyrant’s reign, was arguably the happiest day of my life. It was a dream come true…and at times, even dreaming of getting rid of that thug was difficult. He ruled with an iron fist, a phony religious pretense and a diabolic plan to devalue everything that had a value, especially knowledge & science. I could go on forever describing some of his atrocities and crimes, many of which are too bad to be believed! But I am not going to bore you with that. I just wanted to thank you for your kind words and prayers. Please spare some for the American soldiers who are unfortunately still being under attack from Saddam loyalists. I pray for their safety and happy return home.

I also appreciate very much your efforts to “find the truth” as we too suffer from all the negative media cover which makes Iraqis more frustrated and reflect a bad image of the country. I assure you, most Iraqis are hard-working people who just want to rebuild their country and forget the dark era of wars, hate and tyranny and work on a new democratic Iraq where we can live in peace and harmony with all the civilized nations of the world. We now have our golden opportunity and we won’t let anybody take it away from us.

God bless you all, and thanks again.

Yours Ahmad Al-Attar

[boxerblues]

thanks for the ping

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Thank you so much for getting this letter to a local paper. It is difficult convincing others e-mail isn't SPAM. I find a simple, honest personal note works well.

Having acquaintances on hospital boards helps, too. (^:

[Pan_Yans Wife]

I don't know if they will run it. I live in a really small town, outside of Atlanta. And, most of the news is limited in scope, not only in terms of the depth of the reporting, but also in the subject matter.

I'll let you know what I hear.

I will try with the Atlanta Journal Constitution, tomorrow. But they are ultra liberal, and again not very weighty in subjects.

[Alamo-Girl]

Bump!

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Back at ya!

[Coop]

Good work by you both!

[Pan_Yans Wife]

ping

[VOA]

I remember reading about an Iraqi academic who lost his huge date-palm collection due
to the post-war looting.
He is a Kansas State U. grad, so hope he can get some "old school" help.

I think many Americans will be suprised at the rebound in education/science/engineering
in Iraq in the next decade.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

I won't be surprised. Education is so very important, and people everywhere naturally crave it. I think a renaissance period in Iraq could be on the horizon.

The best result will be as the children in Iraq are raised with freedom, and they learn to take their freedom for granted, never having experienced the horrors of Saddam.