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"You cannot imagine what it means for us to be here on this
national stage, where everything we stand for was forbidden. Now it is
ours."
Oday Rashid, an Iraqi musician and documentary filmmaker, Los Angeles
Times, 5/5/03
"Officials with the Iraqi National Team said they hoped to begin
training soon for the Olympic qualification games to be held next month
in Damascus, Syria. About 200 athletes and other sports officials
planned a demonstration (May 5) in Baghdad to drum up support for an
Iraqi sports federation to replace the one headed by Saddam Hussein's
son, Uday. Uday is said to have tortured and killed athletes who failed
to win or performed worse than expected."
New York Times, 5/5/03
"This is the first step on the road to democracy. I promise I
will be a faithful soldier."
Ghanam al-Basso, newly elected as Mosul’s mayor in Iraq’s first
vote since Saddam Hussein was ousted, New York Times, 5/5/03
"This is something I just can’t forego. I’ve been waiting
for this moment for at least 30 years."
Fawaz Saraf, an Iraqi in Virginia who is headed to his homeland to
help rebuild, Washington Post, 5/4/03
"I think they suffered a lot, and they lost a lot when Saddam
came to power. They lost their country. They lost their comforts. They
felt so powerless, and they saw such intense suffering by the people who
couldn’t leave the country. It’s so important for him to rebuild
it."
Magda Cabrero, Saraf’s wife, 5/4/03
"I saw the world for the first time. I saw where we were. I saw
presidents and cities and people from everywhere! The whole world!"
School Principal Bushra Cesar, after buying a satellite TV dish, New
York Times, 5/4/03
"Before, so many books were forbidden -- anything that didn’t
agree with the regime. Which means practically everything that was ever
printed!"
Imad Saad, a teacher selling books at a Baghdad street market, Los
Angeles Times, 5/3/03
"Now, everyone is talking and talking and talking, without
worrying, and without stopping. About absolutely everything."
Mohammed Hishali, Café proprietor in Baghdad, Los Angeles Times,
5/3/03
"We will keep on somehow. Now we have the most important thing
that we need. There is no one to stop us from saying anything we want
onstage."
Basim Hajar, coauthor and director of a play criticizing Saddam
Hussein’s regime performed in a building where -- before the war --
only works sanctioned by the government were allowed. Los Angeles Times,
5/5/03
"Before, if I had sold this, they would have cut my head from my
body."
Imad Saad, selling a copy of an opposition-run paper, Los Angeles,
5/3/03
"You tell Mr. Bush I think he must be a Muslim for what he did
for us.... This is God's land. Everyone deserves it. Every Christian,
every Jew and every Muslim needs to live in peace -- and eat from God's
gifts -- not from Saddam Hussein's hands." Abdul Razak al Naami, a
sergeant in the Iraqi army until the Americans arrived, Knight Ridder,
4-29-03 "Saddam and his birthday were a black cloud over Iraq. We
all want peace and freedom. He deprived us of these things."
Moayed al-Duleimi, Associated Press, 4-29-03
"Today is a day of happiness for me, because we got rid of him.
He destroyed us. We ask God that he never returns, because we are happy
and -- God willing -- things will be better."
Munhal Taleb, Associated Press, 4-29-03
"After the war, we will see our country change for the better,
with freedom."
Jamila Jorj, a teacher in Baghdad,Washington Post, 4-29-03
"The resumption of school in Baghdad is the clearest sign of
hope for the future that many Iraqis have had in years."
Washington Post, 4-29-03
"We had an open process of discussion among Iraqis that has made
me really optimistic about the future. We heard a wide spectrum of
views. This (political meeting) is something Iraqis have not been able
to do in 45 years."
Feisal Istrabadi, Washington Post, 4-29-03
"Until this year, the birthday of Saddam required joyous, staged
public festivals for the leader of the 35-year, iron-fisted regime. We
would pretend we were happy, but on the inside we were sad."
Abdul Razak al Naami, Knight Ridder, 4-29-03
"Iraqi people have a double personality. One is me when I am in
front of people related to the Baath Party, the secret services, the
family of Saddam; I support them. Otherwise they would definitely put me
in the jail or execute me. Among friends, people I know I can trust, I
tell them what I really feel. Most Iraqis have that double
personality."
Shafiq Qadoura, Newsday, 4-29-03
"The soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division received a
much-needed and entirely unexpected treat when, after months of waiting,
their convoy finally reached Baghdad: the sight of a Toyota filled with
eight gleeful Iraqis, all waving and cheering. Then came thousands of
other Iraqis, in cars and alongside the road, who hailed the U.S. Army
troops as the Humvees passed through the city. The soldiers had missed
most of the war after Turkey denied their division passage into northern
Iraq from Turkish soil."
Los Angeles Times, 4-29-03
"America is like a new friend. I just met him. I must give him a
chance."
Haidar Ali al-Assadi, New York Times, 4-28-03
"Freedom has been inside us all along. But until now we haven't
practiced it."
Hamed Hussein, Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), 4-28-03
"We are here hopefully to put down the structure or agree on the
skeleton of a government. We are here to represent Iraqi women, who have
in the past played very little role in Iraqi politics."
Delegate Zainab al-Suwaij at a political meeting in Baghdad, 4-28-03
"The people today after they were liberated from Saddam want
security and stability. People want real participation. I am
participating in this conference because those who are concerned with
Iraqi issues must hear the voice of the people."
Delegate Hussein Sadr at a political meeting in Baghdad, 4-28-03
"Coming home after years abroad, Iraqis hugged and kissed as the
gathering began. ‘In Baghdad?’ one delegate asked another in
disbelief. ‘Yes, in Baghdad,’ the other replied."
Associated Press, report of political meeting in Baghdad, 4-28-03
"Whenever we had those elections for president, everyone voted
for him 100 percent. And today nothing will happen, and this will prove
that none of us liked him, not a one."
Hussein al-Khafaji, an Iraqi air force colonel, Associated Press,
4-28-03
"Saddam was a criminal, a dictator, and fascist. I thank the
Americans a lot -- we praise them for ending Saddam, with God’s
help."
Khalid Rahim Hussein, Christian Science Monitor, 4-28-03
"On one patrol this week, a boy tending his father's small
grocery grabbed Air Force Technical Sgt. Keith Westheimer's notebook and
wrote a message in broken English, hoping someone with clout would see
it: ‘People Iraqi in Mosul need king leader of Mosul. People Iraqi
very happy because Americans are here. Thank you. Karim Salah, 17 years
old.’"
Newsday, 4-27-03
"It is a happy day for us because we can pray freely. It has
been a long time."
Mohamed Ghalib, Associated Press, 4/25/03
"A 30-year-old secretary in Baghdad named Lina Daoud ponders
what lies ahead. Her words come out as pastel bubbles: ‘We want a
happy future, we want technology, we want freedom, we want
everything.'"
Washington Post, 4/25/03
"It’s a sight one old leatherneck said he ‘will never, ever,
ever forget’: a man bent and wizened by age, pushing a wheelchair
through the streets of a small town in Iraq. In the wheelchair was ‘an
extremely bent, aged old woman,’ barely able to keep her balance in
the rickety contraption. As Marine Lt. Gen. Earl B. Hailston, commander
of U.S. Marine Corps Forces for U. S. Central Command, passed by in his
Humvee, the Iraqi couple caught his eye. ‘Both gave a thumbs up, and
the old woman started blowing kisses. It’s something that will never
leave my mind.'"
Stars and Stripes, 4/25/03
“We are free to do things that were forbidden before.”
Ahmed Rubai, who sells previously banned satellite dishes, Wall
Street Journal, 4-24-03
“The long-oppressed Saudi Shiites would have been heartened by
their Iraqi counterparts' new-found freedom to practice their religious
rituals. This will encourage them to press for their own rights.”
Saudi Arabian human rights activist Abdul Aziz al-Khamis, Agence
France Presse, 4-24-03
“It was like a dream. We heard the bombs falling and I thought: 'We
will die here.' But God gave me a new life.”
Annis Mohammed Saboowalla, Associated Press, 4-24-03
“’We couldn't talk about all this under Saddam, we couldn't look
for our relatives who had disappeared or we would disappear too,’ says
one man, sliding his thumb across his throat. “Being a relative of a
prisoner meant your women could be raped, your houses destroyed and all
your belongings confiscated, so most people kept quiet.’”
An Iraqi man, Financial Times (London), 4-24-03
“With the end of Saddam Hussein's rule, hundreds of thousands of
Shi'ites from across Iraq were free to take part in this year's
pilgrimage unhindered by the security forces who once outnumbered and
arrested them. As they entered the shrine to pray, women kissed its
marble walls and great wooden doors. As they exited, men bowed deeply
towards the shrine before turning their backs. Shi'ites estimate that
hundreds of thousands, some say several million, have reached Karbala.”
The Australian, 4-24-03
“We used to be executed or thrown in jail forever for doing this
when Saddam Hussein was in power.”
Alaa al-Sarraf, in a procession, Reuters, 4-23-03
“This week marked the first time in nearly 30 years that Iraq's
majority Shi'a Muslims could pray without fear of reprisal or execution
by the government, and more than 1 million people flooded the holy city
of Karbala to pay homage at the shrines of Hussein and Abbas, two of the
most holy places for Shi'ites.”
The Boston Globe, 4-23-03
“This is the first time here for me. It is as if I am waking from a
nightmare.”
Mohammed Jabal, in a procession, Reuters, 4-23-03
“We're still awaiting our freedom, but this is the first taste of
it.”
Adnan Abdel-Mohsin, Washington Post, 4-23-03
“…crowds seemed to explode with fervor over their newfound
freedoms. Long processions from Baghdad and cities in southern Iraq –
Samawah, Nasiriyah, Najaf and Basra – paraded through the streets,
waving green, black and red banners. Many stopped every few minutes to
break into chants, beating their chests or foreheads in a ritual known
as lutm.”
Washington Post, 4-23-03
“As in many lower-class parts of Iraq, some residents said U.S.
President George W. Bush had the right idea in wanting to rid Iraq of
Saddam. For two decades, the lower classes have been impoverished to the
point where they felt they had nothing to lose.”
Victoria Times-Colonist (Canada), 4-23-03
“Bush gives us freedom. He is giving us a future.”
Abbas Ibrahim, Victoria Times-Colonist (Canada), 4-23-03
“For decades, we were used to watching ourselves. Now you can think
with words. But to talk loudly and to think loudly takes time. Freedom
needs practice, and it takes practice to be free.”
Poet Mohammed Thamer, Washington Post, 4-22-03
“For two-and-a-half decades, the religious spectacle unfolding in
Iraq was unknown. The country's Shiite majority, brutally repressed by
Saddam's Sunni-dominated cabal, was nominally permitted to make the
pilgrimage, but given little freedom to do so in practice…. If
pilgrims managed to make the journey at all, they did so under a cloud
of secrecy and fear. And yet, this amazing story of religious freedom
reborn has largely been ignored. Instead, the front pages of newspapers
have been dominated by transient stories of looting and unrest.”
The National Post (Canada), 4/22/03
“I cannot believe I am here today openly celebrating. The
government used to shoot us when we tried in the past.”
Hamid Muhammad, New York Times, 4/22/03
“I walked all the way from Al Hendia to Karbala. I am so excited I
am able to visit Hussein (revered son-in-law of Muhammad) now without
fear.”
Mona Ibrahim, New York Times, 4/22/03
“We were prohibited from visiting these shrines for a long time by
the Baath Party and their agents. This year we thank God for ridding us
of the dictator Saddam Hussein and for letting us visit these
shrines.”
Abed Ali Ghilan, Associated Press Television News, 4/22/03
“To the south of Baghdad, thousands of Shiite Muslims converged on
two of Iraq's holy cities, exercising religious freedom long denied them
under Saddam.”
Associated Press, 4/22/03
“We are happy because we can follow our religion and Saddam Hussein
is gone.”
Ziat Haddi, The Gazette (Montreal, Quebec), 4/22/03
“Chanting and singing, hundreds of thousands of Shiite Muslims from
across Iraq walked toward the holy city of Karbala on Monday, freely
making a pilgrimage that had been banned by Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein.”
Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service, 4/22/03
“I say thank you (U.S. President George W.) Bush and thank you
(British Prime Minister Tony) Blair. Whatever the reason, if it wasn’t
for them, Saddam and his sons would be still around for another hundred
years.”
Mohsen Abdul Ali Zubei, Agence France Presse, 4/22/03
“More than 1 million Shiites have been marching to Karbala, eager
to reach the shrine in time for today's mass rites. They have marched,
as tradition prescribes, because their annual season of mourning has
come to an end. And this year, they have marched because they could.
This is the first time in decades that Iraq's Shiites have been free to
commemorate the death of Imam Hussein, grandson of the prophet
Muhammad.”
Orlando Sentinel 4/22/03
"We need a natural life, a democratic life, like in any other
country…when I came into Baghdad, I saw the ruins, but I also saw
something else: freedom. We can be free."
Asad Quasi, a militia member, Washington Post, 17 April 2003
"Iraq has just emerged from a nightmare that lasted 35 years.
The problems that Iraq has suffered under the rule of Saddam's regime
cannot be eliminated in one or two days. Iraqis must hold several
meetings until they agree on what they deem appropriate for the
establishment of an interim government representing all Iraqi factions
and capable of preparing a permanent constitution top be submitted to
the people through a public referendum before the nature of [the next]
government could be agreed. This requires a long time."
Muhammad Bahr-al-Ulum, Egyptian Radio, 16 April 2003
"I am ready to help. Thank you for liberating Iraq and making it
stable, I hope we have a very good friendship with the United
States."
Iraqi General Mohammed Jarawi to US Colonel Curtis Potts after
signing the surrender in western Iraq, Gold Coast Bulletin (Australia),
16 April 2003
"A good leader can bring many things to Iraq. I can see
democracy happening in Iraq because they are good people. They may take
some time getting used to it, but I can see it happening."
Tahani Hanna, 18 year old Iraqi expatirate, The Standard (St.
Catharines) 16 April 2003
"The people of Iraq do not want Islamic rule. For 35 years we
have lived with no freedom, and these religious leaders are not offering
us freedom."
Taleb, Theater Director in Nasiriyah, London Daily Telegraph, 4-16-03
“It was a great day…I never thought I would have this freedom.”
Lt Sadeq Abdul Mohsen, deserted from Iraqi 63rd Infantry Brigade,
Newsweek, 4-21-03
“I can't express my feelings. All I feel is joy. This is the first
time I've seen this (Shiite celebrations) for 30 years. Saddam forbade
everything. He forced us underground.”
Sami Abbas, a Shia at the holy shrine of Kadhimiy, Washington Post,
4-16-03
"I was afraid when I saw my city again, I would die of
happiness…this is the first day of my life."
Ahmed Yassin Hamakarim upon return to Kirkuk, which his family had
fled 15-years ago, U.S. News and World Report, 4-21-03
"'Under Saddam, we were not allowed to have beards,' as he
fondly rubs a week's growth of stubble on his chin. 'This was just one
more rule against the Shiite.'"
Feraz Hasan, Iraqi merchant, Toronto Star, 4-16-03
“As I drove into Basra, an ebullient crowd on a truck was dragging
a statue of Saddam Hussein through the streets. When people saw me pull
out my camera, they began cheering and whacking Saddam's face. ‘Thank
you, Mr. Bush,’ one called out in English, and it was delicious to
watch this celebration of newfound freedom."
The Gazette (Montreal, Canada), 4-14-03
“Storming the Al-Salam Presidential Palace, the looters marveled
bitterly at Saddam's life of luxury as they passed shards of crystal
from chandeliers and shattered mirrors. ‘That's how our pharaoh
lived,’ said one man, who would not give his name. ‘Look how he
lived when we couldn't even get bread,’ said another."
Washington Post, 4-14-03
“British soldiers relaxed with citizens at a nearby Iraqi home.
Sitting Indian-style on Oriental rugs, they ate with local men and women
and passed around wallet-sized photos of their English children.”
Scripps Howard News Service, 4-14-03
“Now people throw flowers at the few Warrior armored vehicles still
patrolling the streets and men, women and children gathered along
roadsides make peace signs and thumbs-up signals at passing soldiers,
shouting ‘Hello’ and ‘Thank you’ in English."
Birmingham Post, 4-14-03
“It's all very interesting. The images of the statue are amazing.
It's a new era in the Arab world, and we're happy to see that. We hope
there will be new democracy in the Arab world… yes, the war was worth
it.”
Ahmad, 40, watching events unfold in Kuwait, Agence France Presse,
4-14-03
“(Selma Dakhel) wants her 10-year-old girl, Nadine, to learn
something other than to chant ‘I love Saddam’ at school, she said.
We ‘want freedom and a government chosen by the people. We will have
democracy in our new time.’”
Chicago Tribune, 4-14-03
“A lot of people from here have been taken away and tortured. We
are very happy that Saddam is gone. We will cooperate with the British
and the Americans.”
Najim Abdullah Ahmed, near Tikrit, The Guardian, 4-14-03
“Oh my God, I feel free to live. I have hoped for this day for so
long.”
Hussain Thain, in Canada for two years, The Guardian (Charlottetown),
4-14-03
“I'm happy, Iraq is free and Saddam is gone.”
Ali Al-Hajavi, 17, The Canadian Press, 4-13-03
“Smiling citizens crowded every street around the American
positions. There was a constant stream of people willing to give
information and loudly condemn Saddam. American soldiers who a day
before had been in close combat were now basking in the cheers and
applause, their arms tired from returning friendly waves.”
Time, 4-14-03
“There were women and children in the crowds, but only the men did
any talking. They would say the word Saddam and spit. Or run up to U.S.
soldiers and shout 'George Bush good.'”
Time, 4-14-03
“The American people, particularly the movie stars against us being
here, need to see this. These people need us. Look how happy they
are.”
Sergeant Reuben Rivera in Iraq, Time, 4-14-03
“The downfall of Saddam Hussein's regime, metaphorically incarnate
in the toppling of his statue in Firdos Square in Baghdad, filled me
with hope. If the regime were still in power, I would not have had the
courage to contribute even these few lines under my name to The New York
Times. Although I am a self-exiled Iraqi who has lived in Beirut for the
past two decades, I have family and friends in Iraq – and I had every
Iraqi's dread that Saddam Hussein's security apparatus could sweep down
on them at any moment.”
Hussain Abdul-Hussain, New York Times, 4-11-03
“I now feel very free; I know that I'll be able to sleep now.
Saddam Hussein assassinated my brother in 1977 – he was hanged in
prison for insulting the president. It was August 5, 1977, and since
then my family has been punished by the security services. Saddam's Iraq
was a dictatorship of torture, war and terror. So today is the first day
I can speak.”
Salim Jaffar, Sydney Morning Herald, 4-11-03
"Over the years, the Baath Party has urged family members to
write pro-Saddam slogans such as ‘Yes, Yes, to the leader Saddam
Hussein!’ on the walls of their house. The family balked, prompting
the local Baath Party officials to paint the slogans themselves. This
week, one of the first steps the family took was to scrape the slogans
off.”
Los Angeles Times, 4-11-03
“There was no justice under Saddam. He could do with us what he
liked. The regime robbed the people."
Akkbal Abdulwahab, a teacher, Financial Times, 4-11-03
“We are still scared but we are happy. Thank God this has happened
and the Americans have come. Saddam gave us nothing.
Maysoun Raheem, The Advertiser, 4-11-03
“As long as (Saddam) is gone, who cares if he is dead or in
Paris?”
An elderly man in Iraq, The Advertiser, 4-11-03
“Iraqis watched with an amazement they dared not express before
Wednesday's tumultuous collapse, as the dictator's aura of power faded
to something akin to that of a petty thief on the run. It was as though
they had awakened from a long, troubling sleep.”
The Age (Melbourne), 4-11-03
“We don't consider the presence of American soldiers as an
occupation. They came to free us from injustice, tyranny and slavery.
Under Saddam Hussein, our lives had no value, no sense.”
Diya Abdul Hussein, Agence France Presse, 4-11-03
“If the Americans are restoring our liberty they are welcome, and
if they respect our dignity they can stay as long as they choose.”
Agence France Presse, 4-11-03
“We are one again. Finally, we are one. I am 50 years old, but my
life just started today.”
Kareem Mohammad Kareem, Associated Press, 4-11-03
“We've been up all night watching TV, but we're not tired. We're
too excited to sleep. I wanted them (his daughters) to see this historic
day. This is the day of our freedom.”
Ali Il-Sayad of Dearborn, Mich., The Australian, 4-11-03
“This is a moment I was looking for all these years; it's like a
dream coming true.”
Ridha Jawad Taki, Orlando Sentinel, 4-10-03
“I'm from Halabja," said Kafya Aziz, watching as a crowd
swelled in Governor's Square. “I escaped the chemicals, but my son and
husband did not. I'd like to cut Saddam to pieces for all he's taken.
I'm happy today. I'm too old, or I'd be dancing.”
Los Angeles Times, 4-10-03
“Firecrackers popped. Women wearing bright dresses and new lipstick
walked arm in arm on the sidewalks as children, some sitting in the laps
of their cigar-smoking fathers, smiled amid a joy they were too young to
comprehend.”
Los Angeles Times, 4-10-03
“I'm so glad for victory. We've suffered much. As you see, I am not
normal. I was in Saddam's prison, and then they forced me to fight on
the front lines of the Iran-Iraq war. I was shot in the spine and cannot
walk. This is the first day of my happiness.”
Taha Hamma Mamrashid, Los Angeles Times, 4-10-03
“We have just been saved. You know what this day means to me? It
means never having to be afraid of another chemical attack. It means
never having to fear my children's future.”
Halala Osman, Wall Street Journal, 4-10-03
“Now my son can have a chance in life.”
Bushra Abed, Washington Times, 4-10-03
“I saw it with my own eyes. People in Baghdad were dancing in the
streets and burning Saddam's pictures and no one was firing at them.
That was proof to me that Saddam is over.”
Taher Hassan, Sulaimaniyeh shopkeeper, Wall Street Journal, 4-10-03
“Today is a clear lesson for dictatorships in the Arab world. I
think they should start looking for ways to change their people's
lives.”
Mohammed al-Jassim, editor of Kuwaiti newspaper al-Watan, Washington
Times, 4-10-03
“We discovered that all what the information minister was saying
was all lies. Now no one believes Al Jazeera anymore.
Ali Hassan, Associated Press, 4-10-03
“Today, though, Adnan was a happy man, so happy that he could
barely restrain his excitement. He was finally freed from a prison in
downtown Basra, after British troops entered the city and drove the
remaining defenders away. And as he took a small group of American
journalists on a tour of the hospital, he enthusiastically led a crowd
of fellow ex-prisoners, their families, friends and passersby in the
first rendition of a pro-American chant that any of us have so far
heard: ‘Nam nam Bush , Sad-Dam No’ (‘Yes, yes, Bush, Saddam
No’). They chanted and danced, filling one of their former cells in a
spontaneous celebration.”
Newsweek, 4-10-03
“It's like a birthday. We're ready to make a new Iraq.”
Ibrahim Al-Mansori, a 31-year-old butcher from Basra, New York Times,
4-10-03
“We have waited many years for this. Saddam is evil and he has
gone. He killed Muslims, his own people and stole our money to buy
palaces and cars and guns. He must pay the full price.”
Abal Malam Al Fussah, a student in Basra, The Sun, 4-10-03
“Man, I am very excited, every Iraqi person is very happy. We feel
like we are reborn again. No more Saddam regime, no more of the Ba'ath
Party. We are very happy, now we have got earth to go back to. We love
America and we love Iraq too. This is like heaven for me right now.”
An Iraqi American, Channel NewsAsia, 4-10-03
“People, if you only knew what this man did to Iraq. He killed our
youth. He killed millions.”
An elderly man in Baghdad beating Saddam’s portrait with his shoe,
Los Angeles Times, 4-10-03
“As night fell, residents throughout Baghdad exuberantly embraced a
new sense of freedom after decades lived in fear of an oppressive
regime. While U.S. troops and tanks moved throughout the city, the
citizens of Baghdad danced in the streets, waving rifles, palm fronds
and flags. Shouts of traitor, torturer and dictator rang out in
reference to the Iraqi president.”
USA Today, 4-10-03
“It was dangerous, it was impossible, to say, ‘Down with
Saddam.’ But we have lived 35 years with the Baath Party. Today I am
very free and I can talk. And I say, Thank you, Mr. Bush.”
Los Angeles Times, April 10, 2003
“I haven't seen such exhilarating scenes since the implosion of the
Soviet empire in the late 1980s. What we have witnessed is something
that the Iraqi people wanted the world to know, and that is they are
glad to be rid of the loathsome dictator, Saddam Hussein.”
Australian Prime Minister John Howard, Agence France Presse, 4-10-03
"Now my son can have a chance in life."
Bushra Abed, Washington Times, 4-10-03
"I saw it with my own eyes. People in Baghdad were dancing in
the streets and burning Saddam's pictures and no one was firing at them.
That was proof to me that Saddam is over."
Taher Hassan, Sulaimaniyeh shopkeeper, Wall Street Journal, 4-10-03
"In the most visible sign of Saddam's evaporating power, the
40-foot statue of the Iraqi president was brought down in the middle of
Firdos Square. Cheering Iraqis, some waving the national flag, scaled
the statue and danced upon the downed icon, now lying face down. As it
fell, some threw shoes and slippers at the statue....'I'm 49, but I
never lived a single day,' said Yusuf Abed Kazim, a Baghdad imam who
pounded the statue's pedestal with a sledgehammer. 'Only now will I
start living. That Saddam Hussein is a murderer and a criminal.'"
Washington Post online, 4-9-03
“It confirms why we're here. This regime, all it does is honor
itself. They build these huge lavish living quarters for the select few,
but the rest of the country lives dirt-poor.”
Lt. Col. Rock Marcone, USA Today, 4-8-03
“The unit's interpreter, Khuder al-Emiri, is a local hero, a
guerrilla leader who was forced to flee… in April 1991 after leading a
failed uprising against Saddam Hussein. Word of Mr. Emiri's arrival
spread through town by way of children's feet. Their hero was with the
Americans and the crowd believed the marines' intentions were good. They
began to chant in English. 'Stay! Stay! U.S.A.!'”
New York Times, 4-8-03
“The euphoria nearly spilled over into a riot. Children pulled at
the marines, jumped on their trucks, wanting to shake their hands, touch
their cheeks. A single chicken hung in the butcher's window and still
the residents wanted to give the Americans something, anything.
Cigarette? Money?”
New York Times, 4-8-03
“You are owed a favor from the Iraqis. We dedicate our loyalty to
the Americans and the British. We are friends."
Iraqi Ibrahim Shouqyk to Marines, New York Times, 4-8-03
“For years we have lived oppressed lives here. Sunday was a day we
had prayed for and now we are free of Saddam’s rule.”
Qusay Rawah, a student in Basra, Daily Mirror, 4-8-03
“The whole Iraq will be happy if the news about Saddam’s death is
confirmed.”
Hussein Al-Rekabi, Iraqi exile of 30 years now in Kuwait, Arab News,
4-8-03
“For some, it was a day to hand flowers to British soldiers
stationed in armored vehicles at a traffic circle or to gawk at British
troops patrolling the city on foot beside their armored vehicles. For
others, it was a day to vent rage at icons of the former authority.”
Washington Post, 4-8-03
"The reception that we received by the Iraqis have been mainly
positive. Many children have come up to me wanting to hold my hand. Many
of the British troops have been kissed by the children as they’ve gone
by. Now, a few people have motioned to go back or to leave but they’re
certainly in the minority."
Travis Fox, washingtonpost.com, 4-7-03
“The Marines here are still concerned some Iraqi fighters remain.
‘Keep away from the area,’ scream the loud speakers in Arabic. ‘It
is for your security. The coalition forces will not hesitate to shoot
you.’ But hundreds ignored that, surging forward to greet the Marines
with an emotional celebration in this predominantly Shia Muslim town.”
CNN Correspondent Bob Franken, 4-7-03
"The closer the marines got to Baghdad, the warmer their
reception. Troops soon encountered cheering crowds, with some people
giving the thumbs-up sign. ‘You go to Baghdad, and then I am free,’
an Iraqi man told one soldier."
U.S. News and World Report, 4-14-03
"We shall never forget what the coalition has done for our
people. A free Iraq shall be a living monument to our people's
friendship with its liberators."
Hojat al-Islam Abdel Majid al-Khoi, Wall Street Journal, 4-7-03
"’Ameericaah?’ a little girl asked a Marine who had entered
her village and taken a defensive position as others began to search
homes. The streets were deserted. People peered around their gates. The
Marine smiled, wiggled his fingers in the girl's direction and her fear
– and that of the rest of the townspeople – melted. Within minutes
people had left their houses and began to shake hands with the Marines.
Liberation from the strictures of the regime of Iraqi leader Saddam
Hussein had come for a nameless village just a few miles from downtown
Baghdad.”
United Press International, 4-7-03
“When some (Iraqi paramilitaries) fled, civilians from the nearby
Shia Flats slum poured onto the streets in support of the British
attack. Some shouted and cheered, greeting the British soldiers with
waves, thumbs up and smiles. Other surrounded and attacked the fleeing
Fedayeen Saddam forces.”
Washington Times, 4-7-03
“Believers (should) not to hinder the forces of liberation, and
help bring this war against the tyrant to a successful end for the Iraqi
people…. Our people need freedom more than air (to breathe). Iraq has
suffered, and it deserves better government."
Ayatollah Ali Mohammed Sistani, Wall Street Journal, 4-7-03
“The cool, cement walls were welcome relief from the blistering
afternoon heat. The colonel walked across a worn rug and sat at the far
end of the room, next to the community patriarch, an old man who stayed
mostly silent. The patriarch's eldest son, 63-year-old Said Brahim,
served as ambassador. ‘We are so happy to see the Americans forces,’
Mr. Brahim told a Marine translator.”
Detroit News, 4-7-03
“Hundreds of people poured out to welcome and shake hands with the
soldiers. Women in chadors hovered in the background, as soldiers talked
and joked with civilians and let some boys look through their gunsights.
A jubilant crowd of about 100 Iraqis surrounded two British tanks near a
Saddam mural and cheered the soldiers inside, giving one soldier a small
bunch of yellow flowers.”
Associated Press, 4-7-03
"Ayatollah Ali Mohammed Sistani is...the undisputed A'alam al-ulema
(the most learned of the learned) of the mullahs who minister to the
religious needs of Shiites, 60 percent of Iraq's population. This week
he will resume lectures, banned by the Saddam regime for seven years, at
the oldest Shiite seminary.
"....[T]he ayatollah said he had advised 'believers not to
hinder the forces of liberation, and help bring this war against the
tyrant to a successful end for the Iraqi people....Our people need
freedom more than air [to breath]. Iraq has suffered, and it deserves
better government.'"
Op-Ed by Amir Taheri, Wall Street Journal, 4-7-03
"As dusk fell yesterday evening, only a small girl dressed in
rags could be seen on the streets of Jazirah al-Hari. She approached a
[British] tank standing guard at one end of the village, and said: 'My
parents will not come, but we need water.' The tank driver leant down
and gave her a bottle of water. 'This is why we've come, isn't it?' he
said."
The Daily Telegraph (UK), 4-1-03
"U.S. troops [are] getting a very warm welcome from the local
Shia population. Now naturally, the Shiites...have no love lost for the
Iraqi leader President Saddam Hussein. They have been very repressed by
him in the past. And obviously...what they believe to be a continuous
presence that they can count on, interest from the U.S. troops is
something that they are quite happy to see."
Ryan Chilcote, CNN correspondent, 4-2-03
"Hundreds of Iraqis shouting 'Welcome to Iraq' greeted U.S.
Marines who entered the town of Shatra....'There's no problem here. We
are happy to see Americans,' one young man shouted. The welcome was a
tonic for soldiers who have not always received a warm reception despite
the confidence of U.S. and British leaders that the Iraqi people were
waiting to be freed from Saddam Hussein's repression. 'It's not every
day you get to liberate people,' said one delighted Marine."
The Independent (UK), 4-1-03
"'Saddam has given us nothing, only suffering,' said Khalid
Juwad, with his cousin, Raad, nodding in assent. Mr. Juwad said he had
four uncles who were in Hussein's jails, and he said he had deserted
from the Iraqi Army three times in recent years. 'If the Americans want
to get rid of Saddam, that's O.K. with me,' he said. 'The only thing
that would bother me is if they don't finish the job. Then Saddam will
come back, like he did in 1991.'"
New York Times, 3-31-03
"We've been waiting for you for 10 years. What took you so
long?’ said an Iraqi man who, along with more than 500 others,
surrendered near the Rumaila oil fields. Many had written such phrases
as ‘U.S.A. O.K.’ on their arms or hands. Some even tried to kiss the
hands of the nervous young Marines guarding them.”
Newsday, 3-24-03
“Ajami Saadoun Khlis, whose son and brother were executed under the
Saddam regime, sobbed like a child on the shoulder of the Guardian’s
Egyptian translator. He mopped the tears but they kept coming. ‘You
just arrived,’ he said. ‘You're late. What took you so long? God
help you become victorious. I want to say hello to Bush, to shake his
hand. We came out of the grave.’”
The Guardian, 3-22-03
“As Iraqi Americans reach out to their relatives in Baghdad and
Basra, in Kirkuk and Irbil, some are hearing words they never thought
possible: Iraqis are speaking ill of Saddam Hussein. They're criticizing
him out loud, on the telephone, seemingly undeterred by fear of the
Iraqi intelligence service and its tactics of torture for those disloyal
to the Baath Party regime. ‘I was shocked,’ said Zainab Al-Suwaij,
executive director of the American Islamic Congress, a nonprofit group
in Cambridge, Mass., that promotes interfaith and interethnic
understanding. ‘It's very dangerous. All the phones are tapped. But
they are so excited.’”
Los Angeles Times, 3-24-03
“’Me and my husband, an old man, have to stay at home because we
are afraid. We want the American government to remove Saddam Hussein
from power and kick these soldiers out of these hills.’”
Fatma Omar, San Francisco Chronicle, 3-24-03
“‘We're very happy. Saddam Hussein is no good. Saddam Hussein a
butcher.’”
Abdullah (only identification available), as he welcomed U.S. troops in
Iraq
Associated Press, 3-21-03
“I have been waiting for this for 13 years. I hate him more than
American government because I told you the Iraq government killed many
people from Iraq. They just put (my brother) in jail for a year. After
this, they killed him because he don't want to go to the army because
his brother is American citizen, and his brother lives in United
State.”
Ayid Alsultani, WFIE-14 television station in Evansville, Indiana,
3-24-03
“‘(The trip) had shocked me back to reality.’ (Some Iraqis)
told me they would commit suicide if American bombing didn't start. They
were willing to see their homes demolished to gain their freedom from
Saddam's bloody tyranny. They convinced me that Saddam was a monster the
likes of which the world had not seen since Stalin and Hitler. He and
his sons are sick sadists. Their tales of slow torture and killing made
me ill, such as people put in a huge shredder for plastic products, feet
first so they could hear their screams as bodies got chewed up from foot
to head.”
Kenneth Joseph, anti-war demonstrator who traveled to Iraq with
Japanese human shield volunteers, UPI, 3-21-03
“I was shocked when I first met a pro-war Iraqi in Baghdad - a taxi
driver taking me back to my hotel late at night. ‘Don't you listen to
Powell on Voice of America radio?’ he said. ‘Of course the Americans
don't want to bomb civilians. They want to bomb government and Saddam's
palaces. We want America to bomb Saddam.’ … The driver's most
emphatic statement was: ‘All Iraqi people want this war.’… Perhaps
the most crushing thing we learned was that most ordinary Iraqis thought
Saddam Hussein had paid us to come to protest in Iraq. Although we
explained that this was categorically not the case, I don't think he
believed us. Later he asked me: ‘Really, how much did Saddam pay you
to come?’” Daniel Pepper in an article “I was a naive fool to be a
human shield for Saddam,”
Sunday Telegraph, 3-23-2003
“As US forces push deep into Iraq, farmers and remote villagers are
greeting them with white flags and waves. But the ground forces, backed
by massive artillery and air support, are encountering pockets of
resistance from Iraq's military. One man, about 30, yesterday ran from a
field towards a US convoy shouting insults about Iraqi leader Saddam
Hussein. Other men and boys stood in fields waving white flags. In
keeping with the local Muslim custom, no girls or women appeared from
their houses.”
Lindsay Murdoch in southern Iraq, The Sun-Herald, 3-23-2003
“….The return of the Americans to Safwan was also an occasion for
hope, even if mixed with wariness. ‘Saddam finished!’ shouted
another young [Iraqi] man, who gave his name as Fares. ‘Americans are
here now.’ His friend, Shebah, added, in broken English, ‘Saddam
killed people.’”
Washington Post, 3-23-03
“Coming into Basra as part of a massive military convoy, I
encountered a stream of young men, dressed in what appeared to be Iraqi
army uniforms, applauding the US marines as they swept past in tanks.”
BBC reporter, 3-22-03
"Ajami Saadoun Khlis, whose son and brother were executed under
the Saddam regime, sobbed like a child on the shoulder of the Guardian's
Egyptian translator. He mopped the tears but they kept coming. 'You just
arrived,' he said. 'You're late. What took you so long? God help you
become victorious. I want to say hello to Bush, to shake his hand. We
came out of the grave.'"
The Guadian, 3-22-03
“As hundreds of coalition troops swept in just after dawn, the
heartache of a town that felt the hardest edges of Saddam Hussein's rule
seemed to burst forth, with villagers running into the streets to
celebrate in a kind of grim ecstasy, laughing and weeping in long
guttural cries.
“‘Oooooo, peace be upon you, peace be upon you, peace you, oooooo,’
Zahra Khafi, a 68-year-old mother of five, cried to a group of American
and British visitors who came to the town shortly after Mr. Hussein's
army appeared to melt away. ‘I'm not afraid of Saddam anymore.’”
New York Times, 3-22-03
"We've been driving since dawn today in southern Iraq, and so
far we've come across scores of Bedouin herdsmen. We've been greeted by
friendly greetings of ‘inshallah’ and ‘salaam aleikum’…we've
seen both women and men waving greetings and shouting greeting to the
U.S. troops.”
Radio Free Europe correspondent Ron Synovitz, 3-21-03
"They told me that Saddam Hussein is not allowing anyone to
leave Baghdad. I don't fear the Americans. I was in Baghdad in the war
in 1991 and I saw how surgical an operation it was. Saddam Hussein has
persecuted everyone except his own family. Kurds, Arab Shiites, Turkoman
- everybody has suffered. But our country was a rich country and we can
be rich again.'”
Financial Times Information, 3-21-03
"These are US Marines being greeted if not with garlands, with
hand shakes by residents of the town in the deep-south corner of
Iraq.”
CBS News, 3-21-03
"One little boy, who had chocolate melted all over his face
after a soldier gave him some treats from his ration kit, kept pointing
at the sky, saying 'Ameriki, Ameriki.'"
Associated Press, 3-21-03
"Milling crowds of men and boys watched as the Marines attached
ropes on the front of their Jeeps to one portrait and then backed up,
peeling the Iraqi leader's black-and-white metal image off a frame. Some
locals briefly joined Maj. David 'Bull' Gurfein in a new cheer. 'Iraqis!
Iraqis! Iraqis!' Gurfein yelled, pumping his fist in the air...
"....A few men and boys ventured out, putting makeshift white
flags on their pickup trucks or waving white T-shirts out truck
windows....'Americans very good,' Ali Khemy said. 'Iraq wants to be
free. Some chanted, 'Ameriki! Ameriki!'
"Gurfein playfully traded pats with a disabled man and turned
down a dinner invitation from townspeople. 'Friend, friend,' he told
them in Arabic learned in the first Gulf War.
"'No Saddam Hussein!' one young man in headscarf told Gurfein.
'Bush!'"
Associated Press, 3-21-03
"Iraqi citizens were shown 'tearing down a poster of Saddam
Hussein' and Dexter Filkins of The New York Times was interviewed,
saying that Iraqis he had seen were 'hugging and kissing every American
they could find.'"
NBC Nightly News, 3-21-03
"Here was a chance to stop and I clambered down, eager to get a
first word from an Iraqi of what he thought of this whole affair. 'As
salaam alekum,' I said in the traditional greeting, then ran out of
Arabic and quickly added, 'Do you speak English?' No go. But with a
fumbled exchange of gestures we slowly managed to communicate. Thumbs up
for the American tanks, thumbs down for Saddam Hussein. Then he pointed
north into the distance and said 'Baghdad.'"
Reuters, 3-21-03
"A line of dancing Kurdish men, staring directly into the mouth
of the Iraqi guns less than a mile away, defiantly burned tires, sang
traditional new years songs and chanted, 'Topple Saddam.'
"March 21 is the Kurdish New Year....And bonfires have long been
a symbol of liberation in this part of the world. 'We're celebrating [Nawroz]
a national holiday,' said Samad Abdulla Rahim, 22. 'But today we also
celebrate the attack on Saddam.'
"Many expressed hope that deadly fire would light the night sky
over Baghdad in the days ahead, bringing an end to the Kurd's epic
30-year struggle against Hussein and his Baath Party. 'I can't wait for
the U.S. planes to come and liberate Kirkuk,' said Shahab Ahmed Sherif,
a 33-year-old Kurd who had fled the oil-rich city four days
earlier."
Copley News Service, 3-21-03
Unidentified Iraqi man: "Help us live better than this life. Let
us have freedom."
ABC World News Tonight, 3-21-03
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