Saddam's ouster worth war, local Iraqis say

The father wasn't upset. Water and electricity remain unavailable at times, some roads lie in ruins, terrorist attacks continue and politicians bicker, but every day in Iraq, "it gets better and better," he said.

One year after the start of the war that ousted Saddam Hussein, many local Iraqi emigres view their native country as reborn, a work in progress and heading in the right direction.

"What happened in Iraq should be the eighth (modern wonder of) the world," Everett resident Ali Al-Sadoon said, "because nobody could get rid of Saddam. He said, 'We'll build our regime to stay in power for at least 300 years.' Thank God it was no more than 30 years."

Reyal Sindi, director of Kurdish Human Rights Watch in Kent, holds no doubts about the U.S. intervention in Iraq.

"It was worth it, a thousand times," he said. "Ask any Iraqi, although we are sorry for the people who died as a result of that war. In any war they are going to have casualties. Nothing is free. On our part, we will be appreciative."

Three weeks after the fall of Baghdad in April, Abdulkareem Shamdeen left his Federal Way home for a seven-month visit to Iraq to work for an international development agency.

"It's undeniable that the security is not so good. People are trying to do their best to cope with what they have," Shamdeen said.

"(But) everyone can breathe, can say what's on their mind. So many newspapers and different kinds of media are expressing what they feel, criticizing those who they feel are not doing a good job. It's something so new to Iraqis."

Sindi learned this week that his brother got a job in border security after seven years of unemployment in Iraq.

"He told me that he just bought a computer and has Internet at home," Sindi said. "We never imagined a day would come when people could have a normal life."

Even if that life includes the death of civilians in bombings and shortages of water and power.

"There are people who cannot bear the fact that it's getting better," Shamdeen said. "They want to damage and sabotage."

The local Iraqis believe that most of the attacks are instigated by non-Iraqi terrorists who easily enter the country. They maintain that borders will tighten after June 30, when the U.S.-led coalition is scheduled to hand political authority to an interim Iraqi government.

Al-Mahana, who spent 45 days in Iraq on his recent trip with his son, said that even when bombs exploded in the streets, people "keep on shopping."

Shamdeen contended that even a small number of terrorists can draw attention out of proportion to the threat.

"Just imagine a group like al-Qaida, with the crazy ideologies they have, what they can do," he said. "But are they succeeding? Absolutely not."

Since Al-Sadoon returned from a 40-day visit to Iraq in the fall, his brother told him that water and telephone service have improved, but that electricity is rationed.

"They don't have patience. They don't know that it's (like) a building: You have to start with the foundation, then the wall and ceiling," he said. "People need everything right away. They believe Americans have a magic wand, that they can do everything easily. That's why they blame America sometime."

But Al-Sadoon estimated that most Iraqis, including at least 90 percent of the majority Shiite Muslims, are "very happy."

The war that began a year ago closed a "gloomy chapter of Iraqi history" and began a new era, Shamdeen said.

"Just like any new project, there'll be ups and downs. ... People are figuring, let's give peace a chance and try to maintain what we have, forgetting the past and refocusing on the future. One day, it'll be a beacon for democracy in that region."

P-I reporter John Iwasaki can be reached at 206-448-8096 or johniwasaki@seattlepi.com

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