http://www.thetranscript.com/headlines/ci_3604571The Iraqi side of war
NORTH ADAMS — A Swedish journalist who has been in Iraq since before the war began is touring America to clarify the Iraqi point of view.
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"Iraqis had some hopes," said Hamid, "and they had some expectations that (President) Bush was going to get in here and take out their dictator and help the Iraqi people. I think it was a sincere sort of sentiment among many people."
Relationship soured
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"Everytime there is a raid," said Hamid, "and the Iraqis are being verbally and physically abused, humiliated, emasculated, you are looking at all the people involved — neighbors, family members, they are going to turn against the American occupation because it becomes a matter of honor and that is something that's never addressed."
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Hamid believes that the abuse and disrespect is institutionalized, despite denials, and points to the fact that the behavior is out in plain sight every day in Iraq and seldom corrected by commanding officers. Hamid can easily rattle off a list, from the nice young soldier he was surprised to see hanging off a Humvee with a gun, yelling to crowds of Iraqis "Come on, you bastards! Shoot at me so I have a reason to kill you!" to the new military academy graduate who came over and calmly announced to Hamid that he was there to kill Iraqis.
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"When I left in February, the Iraqis were debating whether the Americans were going to bomb Iran or Syria," said Hamid. "This is something people discuss all the time and it's a fear, especially in terms of if Iran was to be attacked, Iraqis is very much afraid of what sort of impact that would have on Iraq. Maybe Iranian troops could come into Iraq and use it as a platform to attack U.S. troops."
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