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Seattle-area Iraqis "divided" over photos -- some say Sunni prisoners deserved mistreatment
by John Iwaski, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Rather amazing to see such sentiments reported in the ultraliberal Post-Intelligencer ("As intelligent as a fence post."). EFL. Hat tip: LGF. The abuse of Iraqi prisoners at the hands of U.S. soldiers draws intense reactions from some who left Iraq to find freedom in Washington state, but prolonged outrage isnât one of them. While some local Iraqis are bothered by the images, others welcome them. . . . Imad al-Turfy, another Everett resident, shows no sympathy for the prisoners, saying their treatment paled when compared with the horrors inflicted under Saddam Husseinâs regime. "They raped our women. They killed our kids. So thereâs hatred between us, the people here, and the people in Iraq," he said, referring to the Shiite Muslims who emigrated and the Sunni Muslims who ruled Iraq under Saddam. "Anything coming to them would make me happy." . . . Al-Turfy said he could "tell a million stories" about Saddamâs abuses: the people who were blown apart by dynamite or thrown off 20-story buildings, or the family that was buried alive in a car in Baghdad. "You canât imagine," he said. "They killed us like rats. Like anything cheap." So to view photos of prisoners in humiliating positions -- one month after seeing another chilling image, the charred and mutilated corpses of Americans hanging from a bridge over the Euphrates River -- was "worth it, because they did the same to us," al-Turfy said, a comment echoed by several other Iraqis. Mosafer Al-Yaseri, a Lynnwood resident, said that the abuse by some soldiers should not taint the overall efforts of the U.S. Army. "(The Iraqis) feel soldiers come from good families. Over there, there are 135,000 soldiers. Out of that, 10 people are bad," he said. His cousin, Salam Al-Yaseri, said that the images were "not good for the American government or the American people. ... As you know, we are Muslims. This is a very bad thing in our religion. The people that did this did not (represent) the American people." [Hussein Al-Muhanna, who came to the United States in 1993,] said the photos of prisoners were "embarrassing for me." Though at least some of those depicted were loyal to Saddam, "I still do not want the American Army to do that," he said. These people have the right perspective. I suspect, from the polling data Iâve seen reported the last few days, that most Americans do too: the abuse was wrong and should be punished, but it doesnât taint the whole country and doesnât mean our project in Iraq is irredeemably lost. One wonders if the media or members of a certain political party will get it eventually. Posted by: Mike 2004-05-09 |
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