Don’t Claim To Be Against The War Because Of The Iraqi People

Don’t Claim To Be Against The War Because Of The Iraqi People: As we all know, the anti-Bush anti-war crowd wants to leave Saddam in place get rid of Saddam just as much as the pro-war crowd. But, they don’t think we should go to war and remove Saddam because it’s in America’s interests and Bush is in charge because they are using the Iraqi people as an excuse care about the Iraqi people.

Well, if you’re one of these useful idiots brave dissenters, let me put your mind at ease. While not every Iraqi is doing backflips in the street because we’re invading, we’re seeing a lot of positive signs. Like this

“Marines driving deep into southern Iraq were greeted by Iraqi civilians yesterday who waved and gave the advancing force a “thumbs-up.”

“That was awesome,” Gunnery Sgt. Gregory Keeler said. “They were waving at us, honking their horns . . . I really felt like a liberator.”

…Also along the road were hundreds of Iraqi civilians, many apparently walking from one village to another.

Others left their bleached-brick huts and irrigated fields to get a close-up look at the Americans entering their country.

“They seemed happy we’re here, or they were just hungry,” said Cpl. Adam Brown, a light armored vehicle driver with the recon battalion. “I think I saw definite joy in their faces.”

…”If the roles were reversed, I would be keeping my distance,” Brown said. “But that shows that they think we’re friendly and not here to wipe them off the face of the Earth.”

Then there’s this

“They came staggering and stumbling across the desert – a bedraggled band of shoeless soldiers from Saddam Hussein’s 51st Mechanical Infantry Division, waving any piece of white clothing they could find.

“We never wanted to fight – only the diehards did,” said one Iraqi, as they grabbed at water bottles and clasped their palms as if in prayer, begging for food. Battle had raged the previous day as the marines struggled to hold and secure the town. Even now, Apache helicopters circled overhead, firing missiles into the hills above, where bands of Iraqi soldiers were holed up.

…”We hate Saddam, but we are scared,” said one. They begged not to be photographed: “We will be seen giving in.”

One man pulled up his shirt sleeve and held up his right hand. Two fingers had been hacked off and his upper arm was criss-crossed with scars.

“This is the price of defiance – of trying to run away,” he said, his eyes beseeching. He held up a torn gas mask that had no air canister. “We have one. We draw straws for it. We know if the British and American soldiers leave as they did before, and Saddam survives, he will gas the town.” To make sure we understood, he drew his finger swiftly across his throat.”

Here’s another one

“…Lewis was one of hundreds of Marines in the 3rd Battalion, 5th Regiment who poked their heads out of their armored vehicles, offering smiles, peace signs and thumbs up to Iraqi villagers. A few Marines tossed down ready-to-eat military meal packets, cigarettes and cash. Other Marines pulled out cameras to record the moment.

Elderly Iraqi men and women dressed in long white and black robes countered by blowing kisses to the Marines. Young men put their fingers to their lips as if they were smoking, asking for cigarettes. Children ran alongside the dusty convoy stretching out their hands, begging the visitors for more of anything they could offer.

Many Marines have expressed concerns in recent weeks that the Iraqi people may view them as an enemy to be feared, not welcomed. Those concerns were put to rest yesterday for members of this battalion, at least along this stretch of road.

“When you come into a place like Iraq you don’t expect people to be giving you the peace sign. It was a nice surprise. Things like that make your day,” said Lance Cpl. Cody Maynard, 19, of Carlton, Ore. “When we saw the Bedouins, we thought they were going to split and take off running.”

Instead the people living on this vast plain sprung to their feet and ran toward the military vehicles.”

From the ultra-liberal Guardian

“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.”

“For a long time we’ve been saying: ‘Let them come’,” his wife, Zahara, said. “Last night we were afraid, but we said: ‘Never mind, as long as they get rid of him, as long as they overthrow him, no problem’.” Their 29-year-old son was executed in July 2001, accused of harbouring warm feelings for Iran.”

Heck, don’t take my word for it — just listen to this human shield who realized he was a brainless idiot with a head like a cement block wrong…

“The human shields appealed to my anti-war stance, but by the time I had left Baghdad five weeks later my views had changed drastically. I wouldn’t say that I was exactly pro-war – no, I am ambivalent – but I have a strong desire to see Saddam removed.

…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. I explained that I was American and said, as we shields always did, “Bush bad, war bad, Iraq good”. He looked at me with an expression of incredulity.

As he realised I was serious, he slowed down and started to speak in broken English about the evils of Saddam’s regime. Until then I had only heard the President spoken of with respect, but now this guy was telling me how all of Iraq’s oil money went into Saddam’s pocket and that if you opposed him politically he would kill your whole family.

…”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.”

We just sat, listening, our mouths open wide. Jake, one of the others, just kept saying, “Oh my God” as the driver described the horrors of the regime. Jake was so shocked at how naive he had been. We all were. It hadn’t occurred to anyone that the Iraqis might actually be pro-war.

The driver’s most emphatic statement was: “All Iraqi people want this war.” He seemed convinced that civilian casualties would be small; he had such enormous faith in the American war machine to follow through on its promises. Certainly more faith than any of us had.

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?”

So if you’re protesting against Operation Iraqi Freedom on behalf of the Iraqi people, you can go ahead and give it up. It’s too late to say you were on the right side of history the whole way though, but you can still say you jumped on the bandwagon early on…

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