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Bekijk Volledige Versie : Hurt and disillusioned, some Arab fighters go home



barfly
09-04-03, 13:53
BEIRUT, April 9 (Reuters) - Salaam went to Iraq to do battle
with Americans and die a martyr. He returned home with shrapnel
wounds and tales of fighting U.S. military might with a rifle.
From a Baghdad hotel he moved to a training camp where
volunteers practised shooting and trench warfare. Then Salaam,
24 years old and unemployed, was sent to war.
"I was sleeping behind mounds of sand and firing from
kalashnikovs on helicopters. It was craziness," he said.
"We stayed at the front five days and we didn't eat
anything. I saw two dead bodies shot in the head."
Thousands of volunteers from across the Arab world are
thought to be in Iraq to fight advancing U.S. and British
forces. On Wednesday, Saddam Hussein's rule collapsed as
jubilant Iraqis welcomed U.S. troops in Baghdad.
Salaam, a Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim, said he was unprepared
for the hostility of some Iraqis to volunteers like himself.
"I went there to be a martyr, not to be murdered by a
brother," he told Reuters. "We went there to help them liberate
their country, and all they did was shoot us in the back."
"I am not afraid of the Americans. On the contrary I want to
fight them. But I was scared of the Iraqis, specifically those
who call themselves the Iraqi opposition," he said.
In Lebanon hundreds requested visas to enter Iraq via Syria.
Others like Salaam, whose name means peace, went on their own.
"People must understand we went there for jihad. Iraq is a
holy land and we must protect it," said Salaam, who returned to
Beirut last week with shrapnel in his leg.
Muslims believe that those killed in jihad, or holy war, are
martyrs who go straight to paradise.
The Muslim holy cities of Najaf and Kerbala, home to some of
Shi'ite Islam's most revered shrines, were the scene of fierce
fighting earlier in the 21-day-old war.

PROMISED PASSPORT, HOUSE, BRIDE
Salaam, who returned with a friend who did not want his name
used, said Iraq had promised them an Iraqi passport, a house and
an Iraqi bride after the war ended as a reward for fighting.
Salaam is not normally religious.
He said the closest he got to action against the Americans
was to shoot a rocket propelled grenade at a tank.
"I feel I am stronger than a hero," Salaam said. "I thought
when I saw an airplane I would flee, but I stayed and I waited
for them and God gave me the strength."
The body of another volunteer was brought home last week.
Crowds met his wooden coffin with flowers and rice in the narrow
streets of Beirut's Bourj al-Barajneh Palestinian refugee camp.
The Lebanese volunteers who fought the Americans in Iraq,
however briefly, say they are heroes.
"I am proud that I went. I also felt that my father was so
happy that I left. He didn't say anything but he was proud,"
said Salaam's friend.
"Our friends see us as heroes. One of them told me he is
scared of the Americans because they have warplanes and he hates
the sound. But I told him that God is on our side."

Het lijkt veel op een gevalletje: Veel beloven weinig geven doet een dwaas in vreugde leven.
De beste jongen is een illusie armer en een teleurstelling rijker.

manc
09-04-03, 14:14
"Iraq had promised them an Iraqi passport, a house and
an Iraqi bride after the war ended as a reward for fighting."

"Saddam Hussein's rule collapsed as
jubilant Iraqis welcomed U.S. troops in Baghdad.
Salaam, a Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim, said he was unprepared
for the hostility of some Iraqis to volunteers like himself."



Nu nog op tv die malloten interviewen: "What did the Iraqis welcome you with? With brides or with guns?" :fplet:

observer
09-04-03, 14:14
een vrijwilliger die vecht omdat hij ene paspoort een huis en een vrouw krijgt? dat is toch gewoon een huurling

het feit dat de mensen hem niet moesten tja mischien omdat ze hem als een zakkenvuller zagen die voor saddam vocht en niet voor hun?

CyberMujahida
09-04-03, 22:43
Iemand moet me toch eens uitleggen waarom Irak heilig is?
:loens:

manc
09-04-03, 22:49
Geplaatst door CyberMujahida
Iemand moet me toch eens uitleggen waarom Irak heilig is?
:loens: Omdat er moslims wonen, omdat er christenen, omdat er arabieren wonen, omdat het in de Bijbel staat, omdat Abraham ervandaan komt, omdat er nogal wat sji-itische heiligen begraven liggen, omdat de Paradijs er ooit lag, omdat de zondvloed zich daar afspeelde, omdat elk stukje land 'heilig' zou moeten zijn...