[Peace-discuss] freedom?

[Dlind49 at aol.com]

Tempers flare as US attacks gas sellers in Baghdad
> By Majid Jarrar and Salaam Al-Jubouri, Al-Muajaha
> Newspaper Web Special
>
> BAGHDAD (14  MAY 2003) - Hamed Mehson Alaiwi never
> expected to be attacked by the American military.
> Alaiwi, a former government employee, re-sells
> gasoline on the street in order to support his family
> in post-war Iraq. Until today, his new job seemed
> harmless. Daily, he fills his large, gallon-sized gas
> cans at the Abu Qlam gas station and goes in search of
> thirsty cars. Street sales of gasoline have exploded
> in Baghdad since the war ended and gas shortages
> began.
>
> Gas stations throughout Baghdad have been ordered by
> the US to stop selling gas to re-sellers and only let
> people fill their cars, in order to cut down on
> crowding. When a group of Iraqis carrying gas cans,
> including Alaiwi, approached Abu Qlam at 1:30pm today,
> US soldiers stationed there without a translator told
> the group in English that they couldn't fill their
> cans. When the Iraqis continued to approach the
> station, either not understanding or ignoring the
> order, the soldiers shouted at them to stop, and the
> Iraqis ran away. The soldiers pursued the group, and
> pistol-whipped Alaiwi when they caught him, leaving
> two, prominent welts on his forehead. The soldiers
> then destroyed the gas cans with their knives.
>
> Alaiwi was confused and angry after the beating. "I
> never attached them, they suddenly attacked me. They
> beat me with their guns, and threatened me with a
> knife. When they came, they were supposed to give us
> our freedom, not assault us. He [the soldier] insulted
> me. If he was an Iraqi, I would kill him. But he is an
> American, and I can't do anything," Alaiwi said.
>
> Ahmed, an eyewitness to the attack, commented, "The
> fight today was nothing. A few days ago, an old man
> quarreled with the Americans and they kicked him in
> the head. Every day such situations happen."
>
> "Smith," one of the US soldiers stationed at Abu Qlam,
> said, "People were standing in line waiting to buy
> gasoline, and these guys came with their gallon cans
> in order to get gasoline to sell in the street. We
> told them not to do that. They ignored us, and when we
> ordered him to stop, they ran away." Smith continued,
> "People who run from us are bad people."
>
>  "Hoopra," one of the soldiers who allegedly
> participated in the beating, said, "What guys?" and
> turned away when asked about the attack.
>
> Rundown cars, filled with hot, sweating people, line
> the street in front of Abu Qlam gas station, in
> Baghdad's Karrada district. Gasoline is only available
> at this station between 9am and 3pm daily. Before the
> war, gasoline was cheaper than water in Iraq. Today,
> people speculate that the US is purposefully causing
> the shortages in order to teach Iraqis a lesson in the
> true value of their resources.
>
> Ghassan Al-Zubaidi, a high school student working at
> the gas station, complained after the beating, "The
> Americans came for the freedom? That's all lies. They
> came, occupied us, and stole our oil. They wanted this
> [bad situation] for our country. They robbed, and they
> looted, and they burned all the Ministries, except the
> Ministry of Oil, which wasn't touched, because they
> wanted the oil. George Bush is a son-of-a-bitch."

----------------

A New Kind of Democracy  Current rating: 0
by Hamsa Mohammed in Baghdad

(Hamsa Mohammed is a 22 year old Iraqi college student at Baghdad
University, and captain of the women's volleyball team. She would like to be
a writer.)

14 May 2003

As an Iraqi civilian, and after being through this war, and after listening
to all that has been said and done, I want everyone to know that this war
has just begun. This isn't the end. And everyone should know that the Iraqi
people are ready to sacrifice their lives for Iraq, and only for Iraq - not
for Saddam, and not for the Americans.

For years, most of the people have seen Iraq through Saddam We always tried
to make people see them as two different things, but it was too hard. Now
that Saddam is no more the question is-what will the world see?
The United States said, or to be more precise-George Bush said that they
will enter Iraq as liberators not as occupiers, and that they are here to
eliminate an aggressive regime, to destroy the weapons of mass destruction,
to offer the Iraqi people freedom and independence, and to help Iraq regain
a respected place in the world.

But will Iraq be just another American State?