Iraqi villagers greet US troops!

CNN website is reporting a videotape shot by a Kuwaiti news crew shows about a dozen villagers of Safwan, Iraq came out to greet US soldiers passing through. They shook hands with, hugged and kissed troops saying thank you's and stating that they wanted help to build a strong Iraq, to be free to live and travel and wanted to stop the destruction in their country as they were tired of it. They stated things like "long live the soldiers". Some proceeded to dance around the streets singing "Saddam your days are numbered.". I hope this is an indicator of the attitude our troops will face as liberators. I know our men and women in the services are compassionate people and want to help the people of Iraq gain their freedom. I hope they can enjoy the benefits of democracy soon and that our troops can come home safely and soon.

Later,
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Later that same day, ABC went to that same town to follow up on the story. They got quite a different reception. They had a group of pretty hostile Iraqis standing around them demanding answers to questions like:

"Why are you here in my country?"
"Are you here to take our oil?"
"When are you going to leave?".

I'm not sure what this means. Maybe it just means that in any village you might encouter groups that simply don't agree with everyone.

Ikendu, Obviously it means the Iraqi's trust our troops much more than they trust our media!

The troops greeted with enthusiasm, the media with derision... I can completely understand that attitude.

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It is quite possible they feel both dread and relief.

Most people, even if they haven't observed the phenomena enough to recognize the principle know from the gut that dependance on another for protection will result in the exploitation of the one protected. The principle applies regardless of the degree of dependency, but is also related proportionally.

Iraq's citizens may want delivered from an oppressive government and those in power, but they're also going to be curious about what this is going to cost them.

It sounds like ABC ran across someone that realized there would be a tab to pay.

Not just ABC: Reuters

Dan

Thanks, Dan. That's an interesting story.

I don't really expect reliable information from ANY source, possibly for years.
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Empath, you're correct of course. I was injecting some cheeky comments but I hope the spirit they were offered in was obvious.

There is another element, the Iraqi people are almost certainly very much conditioned to respond that way to people in authority and people with guns. I can imagine that when Saddams folks roll through they are greeted with the same dancing and we love you rhetoric. Once the troops are gone they probably take off that mask.

I do believe we have their best interests at heart, I do believe that they will all be better off for what we are doing. But convincing them of that will take a little work, or just some work as they have no way to judge the reality and terms of what is happening.

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Empath said:
Thanks, Dan. That's an interesting story.

I don't really expect reliable information from ANY source, possibly for years.
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[/ QUOTE ]

Probably so, but I find Reuters to be less politicized (more dispassionate?) than most of the other english language news sources.

Dan

I think Hussein and his government is feared as much as it is loved. And it's loved because it is feared.

It's not surprising that you'll see on Iraqi TV all the demonstrations in support of the regime, but when US troops roll in with their Abhrams, you'll see many ordinary people start to celebrate.

Do you watch any news from sources other than US?

"Basra: Why they are not cheering"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2884769.stm

I hope it is not ture!

You hope what is not true? That article doesn't contain any "spoilers" or other horribly negative indictments of US troops or our mission there. They talk about pictures of dead civilians and that they are not being plastered all over the US media. I wish we could hear some better figures of what those casualties are, but I would challenge you to tell me we did it on purpose. And I would challenge you to tell me that they are better off without us doing this. Of course, those individuals are definitely better off not being dead. Nobody told us we were going to do this without killing any civilians, only that we would do our absolute best to have as few problems like that as possible. As I posted in another thread, there is no other military in the world that has spent as much money and time as we have on developing weapons that are as surgical as possible and take out only the intended target and not the surrounding people. Nobody can do this with fewer hurt and killed civilians as we can.

Mostly I think the article is about the information disconnect causing them not to cheer. They have had no information other than that the US's sanctions is the thing ruining their life. They have lived with that for more than 10 years. How are they supposed to take the US running through town in tanks? I can totally understand their not dancing in the streets, they don't understand that this is their freedom. People don't turn their back on that many years of oppression and misinformation very easily. What do you see there that is so horrible, or so different from what we are seeing on US media.

James,

I agree. No one with a right mind will even think these casualties were caused by purpose.

I was referring to the comments from the surgical assistant and the farmer.

These might just be lies but I don't want to jump to any conclusion as there are always stories from both sides.


Ron

Well, apparently, according to a new news bulletin, Iraqui "fedayeen" are dressing in American and/or British uniforms and pretending to be Our guys, and when other Iraquis go to them to surrender, they are slaughtered.

A couple of months ago, intel sources told us this was going to happen, Apparently they were correct.

If it is true, no wonder people aren't surrendering in droves anymore and few are "cheering in the streets"