*Ø* Blogmanac | How GI bullies are making enemies of their Iraqi friends
Iraqis who detested Saddam and welcomed the invasion are uniting against a new perceived oppressor – the US. Paul McGeough reports from Baghdad.
"It should have been a weekend of celebration – the first anniversary of the toppling of Saddam Hussein and the first chance in decades for millions of Iraqi Shiites to join the Arbi'een pilgrimage to the southern shrine city of Kerbala – their holiest day which had been outlawed by Saddam.
"Instead, the country is in convulsions and it seems the Americans have already lost the battle for Iraqi hearts and minds ...
"Sadeer, my driver in Baghdad, is leaning the same way.
"When he arrived at the Palestine Hotel yesterday he was limping; the leg of his jeans was soaked in blood. The cut was small and we were able to bandage it, but George Bush had lost another Iraqi friend.
"Sadeer, a 28-year-old Shiite, had been an enthusiastic supporter of the Americans and he takes his life in his hands by working for me. Iraqis are being executed just for being in the company of Westerners.
"But his encounter with a bullying US soldier, who roughed him up as he came through the security cordon around the hotel, has pushed him into the nationalist Iraqi camp.
"When the GI challenged him, Sadeer tried to explain in his limited English that he entered the hotel routinely. But he was barked at, shoved away and then belted on the foot with a rifle. He used to slow in traffic to greet the US troops. Now he has turned: 'Americans bad for Iraq – too many problems.'
"Leaving the hotel on foot, we had to go through the same streets to get to his car. I tried to explain our movements to the officer in charge of a US tank unit, but we were greeted with a stream of invective.
"As I thanked the officer for his civility and moved on, one of his men fell in beside me, mumbling. Asked to repeat himself, he exploded: 'Don't you f---in' eyeball me.'
"Nodding to his officer and raising his weapon, he shrieked: 'He has rank to lose. I don't. I'll take you out quick as a flash, motherf---er!'
Source: Sydney Morning Herald
Iraqis who detested Saddam and welcomed the invasion are uniting against a new perceived oppressor – the US. Paul McGeough reports from Baghdad.
"It should have been a weekend of celebration – the first anniversary of the toppling of Saddam Hussein and the first chance in decades for millions of Iraqi Shiites to join the Arbi'een pilgrimage to the southern shrine city of Kerbala – their holiest day which had been outlawed by Saddam.
"Instead, the country is in convulsions and it seems the Americans have already lost the battle for Iraqi hearts and minds ...
"Sadeer, my driver in Baghdad, is leaning the same way.
"When he arrived at the Palestine Hotel yesterday he was limping; the leg of his jeans was soaked in blood. The cut was small and we were able to bandage it, but George Bush had lost another Iraqi friend.
"Sadeer, a 28-year-old Shiite, had been an enthusiastic supporter of the Americans and he takes his life in his hands by working for me. Iraqis are being executed just for being in the company of Westerners.
"But his encounter with a bullying US soldier, who roughed him up as he came through the security cordon around the hotel, has pushed him into the nationalist Iraqi camp.
"When the GI challenged him, Sadeer tried to explain in his limited English that he entered the hotel routinely. But he was barked at, shoved away and then belted on the foot with a rifle. He used to slow in traffic to greet the US troops. Now he has turned: 'Americans bad for Iraq – too many problems.'
"Leaving the hotel on foot, we had to go through the same streets to get to his car. I tried to explain our movements to the officer in charge of a US tank unit, but we were greeted with a stream of invective.
"As I thanked the officer for his civility and moved on, one of his men fell in beside me, mumbling. Asked to repeat himself, he exploded: 'Don't you f---in' eyeball me.'
"Nodding to his officer and raising his weapon, he shrieked: 'He has rank to lose. I don't. I'll take you out quick as a flash, motherf---er!'
Source: Sydney Morning Herald
Pip Wilson posted item above at 11:34 AM | Permalink
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