Notes from Calgary

[daveleau]

By EZRA LEVANT -- Calgary Sun

We know what the liberal media think. Hardly a night goes by when the CBC doesn't run a sneering story about Iraq under U.S. control -- with a heavy emphasis on the shootings and the power blackouts. These reports are broadcast without irony by the CBC from Toronto, a city itself known for its shootings and power blackouts.

So let us take a break from the "experts" in the media and hear from ordinary Iraqis instead. The following voices all appeared in the media since the liberation, but have been drowned out by the naysayers. Many more quotes from real people, each meticulously documented, are available at whitehouse.gov/iraq.

Some of the quotes are simple, some are eloquent, some are selfish, some are enlightened. All have a precious innocence to them, a tentativeness, as if an entire people, enslaved for a generation, is still not used to freedom and not sure how to handle it. Here are a some of those voices:

"We felt better after the regime fell, now we are really happy -- we have been freed from our nightmare." -- Alaa' Kathem, an Iraqi soccer player whose team had been tortured for losing games.

"We didn't believe these things, but we had to say them. Saddam was there in all the books, even the math books." -- Ghada Jassen, a Grade 5 teacher.

"For the first time, I feel really free." -- Latif Yahia, Uday Hussein's former body double.

"We have full freedom to print anything we want. The coalition doesn't interfere in our work." -- Ishtar el Yassiri, editor of a new satirical paper Habez Bouz.

"The tension is reducing every day. We are seeing a change. People are starting to realize the soldiers are not here to occupy Fallujah forever -- they're here to help us rebuild.-- Taha Bedawi, mayor of Fallujah.

"We feel safer now because we used to hear lots of stories about girls. We were so afraid to go out in case Uday saw us." -- Farrah, a 15-year-old Iraqi girl.

"There's more opportunity, more chances to earn money." -- Um Khalid, on life in Baghdad.

"The establishment of this council represents the Iraqi national will after the collapse of the dictatorial regime." -- Muhammad Bahr al-Ulum, a Shiite on Iraq's Governing Council.

"We can't train staff fast enough. People are desperate here for a neutral free press after 30 years of a totalitarian state." -- Saad al-Bazzaz, editor of the Azzaman Daily.

"I like free discussions. I talk about these issues with my families and friends. This could never happen during the Saddam years." -- Maha Abrahim, owner of a wedding dress shop in Baghdad.

"I will run for mayor. Because we have freedom." --Dhirgham Najem, a 23-year-old busboy in Najaf.

"They're buying them (satellites) like they buy bread. They say they're buying freedom." -- Mohammed al-Mulla, a worker at an electronics store.

"Saddam would not allow us here; he would slay whoever came here. It's freedom now!" -- Salah Maadi Khafaji, swimming in a part of the Tigris River that had been off limits to ordinary Iraqis.

"I couldn't teach the students the truth. I was unable to tell them that we were ruled by a dictator. If I did, my neck would be on the line." -- Wijda Khalidi, a school teacher.

"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.

Any one of these average Iraqis is more persuasive than a dozen cynics.