Dan Neely
Member
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Training-Iraqis.html
Every day I love this country a little more. Give us your poor, your tired, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Then be prepared when they come back to kick the shit out of you. -- John McGivney
I couldn't've said it better myself.
:ar15: :rifle: :nofear: :ar15:
Along with a little commentary from the board I got the link from.Iraqi Dissidents Get Military Training
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 7:11 p.m. ET
TASZAR AIR BASE, Hungary (AP) -- Hakim was so eager to help overthrow Saddam Hussein, he sold a successful business in California, drew up a will and bade farewell to his American wife and children.
Oppression under Saddam's regime is ``like Hitler's, but multiplied 10 times or more,'' the Iraqi dissident said. Flashing a steely determination, he added: ``My mission is to assist in creating a free and democratic Iraq.''
Under heavy security, Hakim and other exiled opponents of Baghdad intent on liberating their homeland are undergoing U.S. Army training on a Hungarian air base to prepare for volunteer duty as guides, translators and guards in case of war.
At a corner of the based dubbed ``Camp Freedom, they spoke for the first time to The Associated Press of their hopes and fears for the future.
The Hungarian government authorized the United States to bring 1,500 trainers and up to 3,000 Iraqis for sessions at the base 120 miles southwest of Budapest, provided the dissidents do not receive combat training. Though the first group included only about 50 Iraqis, the Army says more have arrived and will begin training this week.
``I've been very surprised and very impressed at what an optimistic and enthusiastic group this has been,'' said Maj. Gen. David W. Barno, commander of the American training task force.
Hakim, whose last name and age were withheld for security reasons, left Iraq in 1974 at the urging of his mother after several family members were killed for opposing the dictatorial regime.
``I have eight brothers and sisters, and she told me, 'Go, I don't want to lose all of you,''' Hakim recounted Saturday in an interview.
Dressed in a U.S.-issue camouflage uniform bearing the insignia ``Free Iraqi Forces,'' Hakim -- his eyes misty and voice quavering -- said he had not been in direct contact with his family in Iraq since his escape nearly three decades ago to the United Arab Emirates, a journey which later led took him to the United States.
A holder of university degrees in mathematics, petrochemical engineering and business administration, Hakim blames Saddam for ``destroying a culture which was the cradle of civilization and a gift to the world.''
His goal, the Shiite Muslim said, is a regime change ``where everybody has dignity and a good life regardless of religion or race.''
Mohammed, another California resident, has a 9-year-old daughter and sold computers before coming to Taszar. He shared Hakim's frustration when asked about recent worldwide demonstrations against war in Iraq.
``People really don't know what's going on in Iraq. If they knew Saddam, there would be no demonstrations,'' said Mohammed, who dismisses the notion that America is only after Iraq's plentiful oil.
``Saddam is willing to give all the oil in Iraq just to stay in power,'' he said. ``Anyway, Iraq has to sell to the United States or to Europe. People can't drink the oil.''
The chief U.N. inspectors and key European countries are holding out hope that war is not inevitable. But Mohammed said he believed the current showdown, unlike the 1991 Gulf War, would not end until Saddam is deposed.
``I think this time America is very, very serious. I don't think they would send 150,000 soldiers to the Gulf if they were just playing the same game as before,'' he said.
Life on the base is austere compared to what most of the trainees left behind in the United States, Canada and other countries where they've sought refuge. They're not allowed to leave the base, and they sleep on cots with foam mattresses inside tents the size of several basketball courts.
Barno, the U.S. training commander, said a deliberate decision had been made to have representatives of as many ethnic and social groups as possible from all parts of Iraq, including Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds.
Trainers said one of the biggest challenges of working with the volunteers was getting them used to teamwork and acquiring the discipline essential for surviving in a hostile environment.
``It seems they've put down a lot of personal grudges'' stemming from their varied social and religious origins, said Sgt. Eric Kraft, a first aid instructor. ``They have a common goal here.''
U.S. officials would not confirm speculation that the Iraqis being trained at Taszar could form the core of a postwar administration in Baghdad if Saddam is deposed.
Although Washington reportedly is considering a plan under which the Baghdad regime would be replaced with a U.S.-led military government, American officials have said there is no desire for a long-term occupation of the country.
Taszar's trainees said they were confident that ordinary Iraqis, once out from under Saddam's tyranny, eventually would get used to living in a democracy.
``I have faith, but you have to be realistic,'' Hakim said. ``If you take a person from total dictatorship and switch him between day and night to democracy, it's got to be supervised.''
``But the seed is there,'' he said. ``There's a love for freedom and dignity in Iraq, of that I have no doubt.''
Hakim, who first learned about the training program from a friend while drinking coffee in a Starbucks cafe near his California office, said he felt it was only a matter of time before international support for U.S. policy in Iraq grew.
``America has taken the initiative, just like it did in the first and second world wars,'' Hakim said. ``When the rest of the world understands, it will line up behind it.''
``It is the time for this mission. I cannot take my mind off of it,'' he said.
Every day I love this country a little more. Give us your poor, your tired, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Then be prepared when they come back to kick the shit out of you. -- John McGivney
I couldn't've said it better myself.
:ar15: :rifle: :nofear: :ar15: