<

Fired Up by TV, Iraqis Return to Fight

From Jordan, exiles vow to take up arms

Thursday, March 27, 2003
By Courtney Kealy
MSNBC Contributor

Millions in the Middle East watched gruesome footage over the weekend that western news organizations thought was too shocking to air. Recognizing its usefulness in swaying Arab popular support, the Iraqi government has allowed the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera news network exclusive access inside Basra and Mosul in northern Iraq.

AMMAN, Jordan
Sitting in a dingy room where his sparse bedding competed for the limited dirty floor space shared by two other Iraqi refugees, Mohammed Khalef, 23, expressed passionate support for the leader of his country. “I have the blood of Saddam in my veins. I love Saddam Hussein,” said Khalef. He came to Jordan from Baghdad two months ago for economic reasons but said he would return to Baghdad to be with his family and support his country if he had the money. He said he knows many families who feel the same way and have very recently returned to Iraq.

AFTER THE first five days of the U.S.-led coalition’s war on Iraq, graphic and bloody news broadcasts have dominated Arab television news channels, and Arab public opinion has hardened. No refugees have flooded the borders, and some Iraqis are actually returning home in the middle of the conflict. Even those most against Saddam’s regime deeply distrust the motives of the United States.
Despite aid groups setting up tents, running water and electricity for an expected tens of thousands in Ruweished near the Jordanian border with Iraq, no Iraqis have arrived at the border as refugees.
“It’s a surprise. The people who built the refugee camps are still wondering why. They expected a high number of people,” said Saleh Dabbakeh, the communications officer in the Jordan office of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Instead some are returning to Iraq to be with their families during the conflict, he confirmed. The Jordanian border police told Dabbakeh that more than 200 Iraqis have returned to Iraq in the last few days.

* ‘SECOND VIETNAM’
* MISTRUST OF THE U.S.
(More: MSNBC.com)
2003 © MSNBC.com

Dan