Wednesday, April 09, 2003

An Iraqi doctor living in Ireland talks about the war.

Dr Albarwari is blatantly clear in his condemnation of Saddam Hussein, who he believes is, quite simply a really bad man: 'He is more than simply a dictator. Back in Baghdad you could be sitting at home and the Army would come and knock on the door, telling you to come to a meeting.

'You could say, 'No I don't want to' but then they would just arrest you', Dr Albarwari explained.

Having experienced Hussein's terror and dictatorship at first hand, Dr Albarwari is keen to see the tyrant overthrown as quickly as possible. He explained that during the 1991 conflict, he and his family were all put in jail for one month - yet, they had not committed any crime.

Eager to get rid of Saddam Hussein once and for all, Dr Albarwari wants the US Government to carry on ruling his country for the foreseeable future.
'There is no point in pulling out of Iraq immediately after defeating Saddam, there are too many other 'dictators', members of the Iraqi National Congress willing to take his place.'

When asked if he felt Saddam was still alive Dr Albarwari replied: 'It doesn't matter, even if he was dead. America still needs to take over the running of the country for the next few years. There are too many different factions and groups, internal fighting would break out.'

His philosophy on the war in Iraq, is very straightforward: 'Iraqis are dying anyway, either from lack of housing, bad sanitation or for other reasons, at least if they die fighting there may be something positive can come out of it.'
While Dr Albarwari supports the war, it is hard for him to witness the devastation of his country, a harrowing experience to watch.

'Nobody likes to see their homeland destroyed in this way, and seeing their country men killed. But, at this stage it is a means to an end.'

Clearly emotional, he explained that his family still live in Iraq. Originally from the town of Mosul in Northern Iraq, which is presently involved in heavy fighting, most of his family, including his parents and his brothers and sisters now live in Baghdad.

Again, an Iraqi exile with family in the war zone supporting the war. And he makes the point clear for the 'anti-war' folks.

Dr Albarwari, shrugs his shoulders: "They don't know what it is like, most of them have never lived there'.

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