WITNESS: Wrenched into exile from my Iraqi homeland »
Posted By Spadecaller 1 year, 8 months ago in NewsThis story by a former Reuters reporter is part of a special report on the exodus from Iraq. The author has requested that her location not be identified. "After losing loved ones and neighbors to the revenge killings and suicide bombings that have become Iraq's daily curse, I knew it was time to seek a safer haven abroad."
Read Full Story at today.reuters.com »
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Comments So Far: 31
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BravoSierra1 year, 8 months ago
This is our fault for PPP. The military and other analysts predicted this and said we would need up to 400,000 soldiers to prevent it. Of course there are bad people in the world, that's why competence and proper planning are so critical on our part. Bush and his administration pursued their policy so incompetently we will never know whether they were just incompetent or whether their policy is flawed as well. But, either way, Bush's incompetence is to blame. We knew this was coming, we knew what it would take to prevent it and we ignored our military commanders like Shinseki who spent their life preparing to fight this kind of conflict.
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neuroticus1 year, 8 months ago
"We have brought Freedom to 21 million Iraqis!"
-some idiot American
What about Freedom from Terror? Terror which is like a smothering blanket that stifles the life out of these poor people. Are people happier today because they can cast a ballot for a Prime Minister and Parliament? NO! They are being shredded like wheat, have less water/gas/electricity, and are too afraid to live their lives.
Iraqis are less free today than they were with Saddam. Good job Bush.
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Amazing11 year, 8 months ago
This is what we have done to Iraq. Bush and his cronies should be forced to read this story. Maybe then, they could get their heads out long enough to understand that it was wrong to go in and it is wrong to stay. The longer we stay, the worse it gets. We have ruined their nation and it has not been to protect us from terrorists. It has been to the benefit of Big Oil and the military industrial complex. Shame on them. Shame for the horror they have made of the lives of the ordinary Iraqi citizens. And Shame on them for being so dimwitted as to provide the greatest recruitment boost for the terrorists that they could have ever hoped for.
The gang at the White HOuse needs to be arrested and marched off to jail.
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Disulfate1 year, 8 months ago
Did anyone ever think the ordinary citizen of Iraq would
sit around and wait to be killed? If this insanity continues the only people in Iraq will be the terrorists
and the military.
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evelyna1 year, 8 months ago
The same thing will happen in Iraq that happened after Viet Nam. Thousands of the people will head here for welfare.
I am already sick of seeing veils and such. I can't believe people here regress into that culture.
I guess if they bring them all here we will not be too safe from terrorism.
They will probablly hit us again. After all once they mingle into our country they will become ingrates like in Britan and France. The afros and illegal mexicans in america are at least content with a few crumbs of welfare. They can steal and hustle more from their friends and relatives.
Once the muckscums come over here they will demand more and more-nothing will be good enough. They will take down states and make previous race riots look like an afternoon at the spa.
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vor1 year, 8 months ago
That is one of the most xenophobic post I have ever read. I would guess that someone likely said the very same things about your relatives long ago unless you are a WASP. We claim to want to free these people yet when they turn to us for that freedom they should be rejected?
One of the least reported stories is the drain of professionals out of Iraq...those with the skills and means to leave are leaving, or left long ago. This means those that most desire opportunity and peace are no longer involved in the process.
I am sure you are a big Cheney/Bush supporter...
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BravoSierra1 year, 8 months ago
On the other hand, they report that 2 million people have fled Iraq. Give me an army of 2 million people who want to keep their homeland and I'll have the terrorists cleared out within a year.
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evelyna1 year, 8 months ago
I do not support any part of the war. I do not care who comes here as the influx will never stop now. If people obey the laws and want to be part of the culture they can remove their veils and such.
Typical, just like in this country-the upper class expects the lower classes to fight and die for their cause. I guess only the educated and skilled should be entitled to live in peace and happiness.
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Spadecaller1 year, 8 months ago
evelyna: "I am already sick of seeing veils and such... Once the muckscums come over here they will demand more and more-nothing will be good enough."
Your remarks, which are incorrigible require special attention. IN fact, I must admit that to consider you American is an embarrassment for all Americans. YOu are not just prejudiced; you are a bigot and a disgrace to this country. I rarely ever would address someone in this manner, but after reading your remarks, I'm convinced that the world could only improve with less people like you in it.
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BravoSierra1 year, 8 months ago
The doctrine of Low Intensity Conflict said that the military operation was only a very small part of the overall effort. The military needed to make the country of Iraq secure within about 6 months of the combat phase of the operation. General Shinseki said that would take 250,000 to 400,000 troops. We had about 80,000 that were combat effective. The LIC also said we had about 6 months to get the water, electricity, hospitals, etc. operational. Basically, you had to get the bottom tier of Maslow's Hierarchy of needs in place in about 6 months to keep things from falling apart and devolving into sectarian violence. Bush overrode his military commanders and he did not hold the companies he gave the civil contracts to accountable. These were gross errors in judgment.
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abntv1 year, 8 months ago
I also notice that this writer never says anything about why the Iraqi people themselves have not addressed the problems..their answer is to leave the country..let someone else die for their freedom and return once it is safe...
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simonsez1 year, 8 months ago
She did the sensible thing ... wouldn't we do the same?
If you don't want to carry a weapon and kill, it's time to move on.
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Spadecaller1 year, 8 months ago
Instead of learning about the plight of the Iraqi people from this article, some of you, like abntv, misinterpret her story as a way to blame all Iraqis for their circumstances.
This is common ploy; blame innocent victims to assuage our own contribution to their embittered circumstances.
Without judgement or condemnation she simply stated that after the occupation, the living situation for Iraqis became even worse.
What has she done to you abntv to deserve such a callous remark "let someone else die for their freedom and return once it is safe?" WE didn't bring freedom to the Iraqis; we destroyed their infrastructure, killed a dictator, replaced him with a phony "American paid government" while we continue to rape their country of their oil.
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abntv1 year, 8 months ago
What she has done is abandon her country and leave it for someone else to clean up. I do not blame all Iraqis for anything..do not twist my words...I am going to throw up if I hear one more person talk about how we are only in Iraq for their oil..we have never used Iraqi oil to any large degree...the amount of Iraqi oil this country uses now and has used in the past is a drop in the bucket...
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GoldStandard1 year, 8 months ago
"I am going to throw up if I hear one more person talk about how we are only in Iraq for their oil..we have never used Iraqi oil to any large degree...the amount of Iraqi oil this country uses now and has used in the past is a drop in the bucket..."
True. If we wanted oil, why didn't we go to Kuwait or Saudi Arabia? And just how much oil have we extracted from Iraq since this whole thing began? To these questions I'd like objective answers, not politically-driven conspiracy scenarios founded on half-truths and assumptions.
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Spadecaller1 year, 8 months ago
Women and children did not fight the English during the revolution. Are you really as ignorant as you are pretending. Or is this not an act?
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Spadecaller1 year, 8 months ago
This will be my last time exchanging words with you abntv.
You are too uninformed and obviously uneducated; a sectarian war IS a civil war because it is fought among Iraqis -- Iraqis of different sectarian backgrounds (Sunni, Shiit, Kurds)It is localized throughout the country! LOL
(Regarding the women and children during the Revoutionary War, most of the rebels took their families as far away from the fighting as they could.)
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BravoSierra1 year, 8 months ago
Ok, yes, do go read your history books. Many civil wars have been sectarian wars...like, um, the Jacobites...lol
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NelsonR1 year, 8 months ago
Simple solution is to exit from Iraq and allow Iraq's to have the same helpful requirement as we American's had, A REVOLUTIONARY WAR. It's inevitable and the only solution.
We had many Americans imigrate to Canada and other countries since their beliefs were not shared by the majority.
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getreal11 year, 8 months ago
There is nothing any one can do, these people are bent on destroying their selves. Some one wanted us to come into this country. Not just our country but other countries brought into it as well. They knew that the terrorism plans through the last 30 years would eventually add up into achieving their gain without their hands becoming known as the cause. As the remark was made on the news after the 911 attacks by Osama bin laden I didn't order it but I know who did. I would still like to know who Who happens to be. That is why I found it so odd that we went to war with Iraq. War is a horrible thing, one must have proof beyond doubt before waging.
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