Free Republic

Iraqi-Americans Discuss War's Impact Two Iraqi-Americans tell about their experiences in Iraq, their reasons for coming to the United States and their views on why it is a good thing that America removed Saddam from power. By Mike Heronemus 24th Infantry Division (Mech) Fort Riley, Kansas FORT RILEY, Kan., Jan. 25, 2005 - "Saddam (Hussein) destroyed the family structure in Iraq. He turned brother against brother. He turned sons into informers against their fathers. Fathers could not trust their sons," said Dr. Mahmoud Thamer, an Iraqi-born cardiologist who is now an American citizen. "If an American asks an Iraqi...

FORT POLK, La. (AP) - Men in Arab headdress detonate a homemade bomb along a roadway used by U.S. convoys. A suicide truck bomb rips through a troop encampment, killing dozens. An insult triggers fighting between Iraqi Kurds and Arabs. These events, staged at Fort Polk to replicate the dangers facing U.S. forces in Iraq, made clear to the 4,800 National Guardsmen training at this remote Army base that preparing for a postwar tour of duty is unlike anything they have done before. "We got a very big wake-up jolt" when the training kicked off in mid-January, said Brig. Gen....