A Better Iraq According To An Iraqi!

There is a young man, Hammar who is about 30 that plays on the same pool team as Rob here in Itaewon, Korea. He is married to an American girl and has been in Korea since about 2006.

We were talking to him tonight and Rob asked him what he thought about Iraq now and before under Saddam Hussein's rule. Rob felt a little arkward asking Hammar, but he really wanted to know.

What ensued was truly unbelievable. He told us stories of rape, murder, torture and absolute terror that happened to anybody at anytime and anyplace under Hussein's rule. It can be described only as absolutely shocking.

I had an idea that things were bad, but my god! I sat there and just listened to what Hammar was saying. He was a doctor in Iraq and is a doctor here. He was working for 2 dollars a month!!!!!!

He spent 7 days one time in jail because one of Hussein's private policemen came to the hospital drunk and was insulting everyone at the hospital while being cared for. Hammar said something to him and he ended up being in jail for 7 days. He said that he was lucky to get out and that he wasn't killed. The fact that he was a doctor, may have saved his life.

So, to all the people around the world that say Iraq was better under Hussein, you need to talk to someone like Hammar and understand the animals that Hussein and his entourage were. They controlled the country by pure terror. In Hammar's own words, " Holy fuck, Iraq today is so much better off, but we as a people have no idea what democracy or freedom is. Everything is new to us and it will take us a while to figure out what to do with these new things. Other countries don't want us to succeed and it is in their best interests to try and get us to fail."

An unbelievable night's conversation that taught me a lot and made me realize how lucky I am to be able to live free and without fear. Anyone else reading this blog should feel that way, too.

To all the people that want America out of Iraq. Shame on you!!!!!! Maybe the results are not happening as fast and as smooth as expected, but America had and has the right idea about bringing democracy and freedom to that part of the world, where there are lots of countries that rule their people by pure terror and that needs to be changed, even if it takes force at times.

Enough said. Thank you Hammar for educating me about your life and your country and restoring some faith in the American ideal, be it right or wrong in anyone's opinion.