March 21, 2003

Hope and Fear in Tennessee

After you've watched the video of the aerial "shock and awe" bombardment, it's worth remembering one of the reasons we are fighting in Iraq: to free an oppressed people. Today's Tennessean has a solid story featuring some Iraqis living in the Nashville area who are watching the war unfold with a mixture of hope and fear...

Nawzad Hawrami, another survivor of Saddam's gas attacks on Kurdish cities, said he blames only Saddam for his people's suffering. Hawrami said he survived the attack by wrapping his face with wet towels, but 25 members of his family were killed. Hawrami, 39, of Nashville, president of the Salahadeen Islamic Center of Nashville, said he worried that Saddam will launch more attacks against the Kurds as the U.S. invasion escalates. He said he has talked to family members still in Iraq, and they say they are fleeing the cities and heading for rural villages. ''Saddam Hussein is like a cancer that has to be treated, or it will just continue to grow. I hope this will be the end of the days of his life and of his time in Iraq.''

While Hawrami said he supports the U.S.-led invasion, he said he wishes that the international community had responded to the Kurds' call for help sooner.