suzziq03
03-27-2003, 07:29 PM
This was in my local paper, interresting.....
In 1991, Iraqi-born Mitch Freeman stood on the rooftop of a two-story building in Baghdad watching the explosions of bombs dropped by U.S.-led forces in the first Gulf War.
"It was music to my ears, and I wanted to hear more of it," Freeman said. "I thought it was a wonderful symphonyof liberation. We all thought the more bombs that were dropped, the sooner Saddam Hussein would be out of power."
Mitch Freeman, M.D., sits in an examining room at Urgent Care. Photo by Alfred J. Hernandez
But to his disappointment, Saddam Hussein remained in power, and Freeman's family found itself fleeing to a refugee camp in Kuwait out of fear of retribution.
"My family was threatened by the government because my older brother who was in the military — which isn't voluntary — surrendered because he didn't believe in fighting for Iraq in a war," Freeman said.
Freeman ended up in Yuma, where today he is a physician and a U.S. citizen. He supports the current war and hopes it will accomplish what the first one did not.
While other Yumans of Middle Eastern descent share Freeman's dislike for Hussein, their opinions vary about whether war is justified.
"There are better ways to solve problems," said Habit Rathle, a Yuma pediatrician of Lebanese descent. "Some people believe the best solution is to use more force. But the only thing learned from that is humiliation and retribution."
Now that U.S. troops must fight a war, Rathle said he supports them, but he still doesn't believe President Bush's policy will bring democracy to Iraq. A better alternative, he says, is to continue containing Hussein.
"Killing thousands of innocents in order to catch one dictator is too high a price to pay. There is already enough suffering in this world."
Rathle has seen his share of war, having lived in Beirut during seven of the 15 years of conflict that tore apart that city. A few weeks ago, prior to the start of the war, Rathle was one of the organizers of a peace rally in Yuma.
Freeman said he gets frustrated and angry whenever he sees a peace rally and hears the protestors.
"I say to myself these people have no right to speak on behalf of the Iraqi people because they don't know what it is like to be oppressed, and haven't lived a day under his rule, as I have," Freeman said. "The government feeds on blood and there is no way to describe its brutality or its cruelty."
He believes anti-war protestors would likewise support the war effort if they understood what it was like to live in Iraq.
Freeman, today a doctor at the PrimeCare Central Urgent Care clinic in the Big Curve Shopping Center, was born and raised in Iraq and lived in Baghdad from 1971 to 1993.
Prior to moving to Yuma in 1999, he dropped his Iraqi name. He chose an American first name that began with the same letter as his given Iraqi name, he said, but wanted to put more thought into a new surname.
"I am a free man now that I live in this country," he said, explaining his rationale for choosing Freeman.
Freeman said he wants to reassure Americans who are less certain than him about the justification for war that that the Iraqi people don't want Hussein to stay in power.
"Nobody wants this lunatic in control, but they don't have a choice," Freeman said. "There isn't a family that hasn't suffered because of him and they just want the U.S. to remove him from power."
While it may appear that Iraqi people support Hussein, Freeman said the demonstrations that people are seeing on their television are faked.
"They are all staged, with people being forced to participate," Freeman said. "Those who don't want to are hurt, executed or have their families threatened."
Freeman said he never felt safe living in Iraq and the feeling was overwhelming. He wants Americans to know that all the Iraqi people want is a simple and peaceful way of life — which he said will happen if and when Hussein is ousted.
"The brightest page in Iraqi history is coming soon," said Freeman,
Egyptian-born Samir Moustafa, owner of Camel Pointe Realty in Yuma, also opposes the war and says he feels like he can't share his opinions on the matter.
"People get upset and the first thing they say to meis, if I don't like it, I should leave the country," said Moustafa, who has lived in Yuma since 1982. "That is very narrow-minded, considering this is a free country. I don't tell people who are for the war they need to go bomb Iraq.
"I'm ashamed of being from a Middle Eastern country, in that if I say anything against the war, I'm considered a terrorist and seen through fear and hate," he said. "It shouldn't have to be that way."
Having talked to other Yumans of Middle Eastern descent, Moustafa said nobody likes Hussein but that they doubt war will improve the situation.
"Most people don't believe there will be a democracy in Iraq once he is gone and this is over," Moustafa said. "It will be another king or royal family before it will be a democracy. If it does though, it will be the best thing to ever happen to the Middle East. But I guarantee it won't happen."
Majid Jajo, a Yuman who also is from Iraq, wants a regime change but doesn't think a war is the way to do it.
"It's what everybody wants. They should have taken that sucker out a different way," said Jajo, who has lived in the United States for 23 years . "It's been several days (since the war started) and they haven't gotten him yet, and I hope to God they do, but a lot of people are suffering now."
Jajo, owner of a Yuma liquor store, has spent thousands of dollars to get his family out of the country over the years.
"It's very expensive, and I was the only one here for them," he said. "I have worked hard all these years to send them money to get here."
In 1991, Iraqi-born Mitch Freeman stood on the rooftop of a two-story building in Baghdad watching the explosions of bombs dropped by U.S.-led forces in the first Gulf War.
"It was music to my ears, and I wanted to hear more of it," Freeman said. "I thought it was a wonderful symphonyof liberation. We all thought the more bombs that were dropped, the sooner Saddam Hussein would be out of power."
Mitch Freeman, M.D., sits in an examining room at Urgent Care. Photo by Alfred J. Hernandez
But to his disappointment, Saddam Hussein remained in power, and Freeman's family found itself fleeing to a refugee camp in Kuwait out of fear of retribution.
"My family was threatened by the government because my older brother who was in the military — which isn't voluntary — surrendered because he didn't believe in fighting for Iraq in a war," Freeman said.
Freeman ended up in Yuma, where today he is a physician and a U.S. citizen. He supports the current war and hopes it will accomplish what the first one did not.
While other Yumans of Middle Eastern descent share Freeman's dislike for Hussein, their opinions vary about whether war is justified.
"There are better ways to solve problems," said Habit Rathle, a Yuma pediatrician of Lebanese descent. "Some people believe the best solution is to use more force. But the only thing learned from that is humiliation and retribution."
Now that U.S. troops must fight a war, Rathle said he supports them, but he still doesn't believe President Bush's policy will bring democracy to Iraq. A better alternative, he says, is to continue containing Hussein.
"Killing thousands of innocents in order to catch one dictator is too high a price to pay. There is already enough suffering in this world."
Rathle has seen his share of war, having lived in Beirut during seven of the 15 years of conflict that tore apart that city. A few weeks ago, prior to the start of the war, Rathle was one of the organizers of a peace rally in Yuma.
Freeman said he gets frustrated and angry whenever he sees a peace rally and hears the protestors.
"I say to myself these people have no right to speak on behalf of the Iraqi people because they don't know what it is like to be oppressed, and haven't lived a day under his rule, as I have," Freeman said. "The government feeds on blood and there is no way to describe its brutality or its cruelty."
He believes anti-war protestors would likewise support the war effort if they understood what it was like to live in Iraq.
Freeman, today a doctor at the PrimeCare Central Urgent Care clinic in the Big Curve Shopping Center, was born and raised in Iraq and lived in Baghdad from 1971 to 1993.
Prior to moving to Yuma in 1999, he dropped his Iraqi name. He chose an American first name that began with the same letter as his given Iraqi name, he said, but wanted to put more thought into a new surname.
"I am a free man now that I live in this country," he said, explaining his rationale for choosing Freeman.
Freeman said he wants to reassure Americans who are less certain than him about the justification for war that that the Iraqi people don't want Hussein to stay in power.
"Nobody wants this lunatic in control, but they don't have a choice," Freeman said. "There isn't a family that hasn't suffered because of him and they just want the U.S. to remove him from power."
While it may appear that Iraqi people support Hussein, Freeman said the demonstrations that people are seeing on their television are faked.
"They are all staged, with people being forced to participate," Freeman said. "Those who don't want to are hurt, executed or have their families threatened."
Freeman said he never felt safe living in Iraq and the feeling was overwhelming. He wants Americans to know that all the Iraqi people want is a simple and peaceful way of life — which he said will happen if and when Hussein is ousted.
"The brightest page in Iraqi history is coming soon," said Freeman,
Egyptian-born Samir Moustafa, owner of Camel Pointe Realty in Yuma, also opposes the war and says he feels like he can't share his opinions on the matter.
"People get upset and the first thing they say to meis, if I don't like it, I should leave the country," said Moustafa, who has lived in Yuma since 1982. "That is very narrow-minded, considering this is a free country. I don't tell people who are for the war they need to go bomb Iraq.
"I'm ashamed of being from a Middle Eastern country, in that if I say anything against the war, I'm considered a terrorist and seen through fear and hate," he said. "It shouldn't have to be that way."
Having talked to other Yumans of Middle Eastern descent, Moustafa said nobody likes Hussein but that they doubt war will improve the situation.
"Most people don't believe there will be a democracy in Iraq once he is gone and this is over," Moustafa said. "It will be another king or royal family before it will be a democracy. If it does though, it will be the best thing to ever happen to the Middle East. But I guarantee it won't happen."
Majid Jajo, a Yuman who also is from Iraq, wants a regime change but doesn't think a war is the way to do it.
"It's what everybody wants. They should have taken that sucker out a different way," said Jajo, who has lived in the United States for 23 years . "It's been several days (since the war started) and they haven't gotten him yet, and I hope to God they do, but a lot of people are suffering now."
Jajo, owner of a Yuma liquor store, has spent thousands of dollars to get his family out of the country over the years.
"It's very expensive, and I was the only one here for them," he said. "I have worked hard all these years to send them money to get here."