Something extraordinary is going on in Iraq. For the first time in as long as anyone can remember women in Iraq are now alive and have a voice. For the first time in as long as anyone can remember young girls can dream of getting an education, holding a political office, writing for a newspaper, or saying no to a man who wishes to rape her.

These are not my words and thoughts. These are the words of a group of Iraqi women journalists who visited my TV station where I anchor recently. They are traveling in the United States as part of a state department program encouraging women who, again in their words, “are waking from the dead.” This is the first time I’ve had a chance to interview any residents of Iraq about conditions in that country. If you had any doubts about our involvement in that country reading this should change your mind.

Let me tell you some of their stories. Anaha has been writing as a correspondent for the London times for the past 11 years. She lives in Baghdad. Her parents were murdered by Saddam Huesssin’s elite guard who determined that their house was needed to “protect” the southern approach to one of Saddam’s private palaces two miles away. Her fathered refused to leave. The guards slit her mother’s throat trying to force the issue. Her father raced to her aid and was shot twice in the back. They died laying in each others blood as Anaha hid under her bed upstairs. She has dedicated her life to telling the stories of the hundreds of thousands of silent voices who “crying out from the depths” to be remembered.

Syrianna writers for one of Iraq’s 150 new newspapers born since the fall of the Saddam regime. She has written for several other international publications with a special emphasis on business stories. She says before the fall Saddam’s soldiers routinely extorted local businesses for everything from food to TV’s. She says pay offs for protection were considered the cost of business. If you didn’t cooperate your business was burned to the ground. That’s what happened to her brother’s shop in Baghdad. Unfortunately two men living above the shops died in the fire. She says crime was relatively low because when someone accused another person of stealing Saddam’s corrupt police would execute that person on the spot. That technique was often used to rid the field of competition.

Nahala was one of the youngest in the group. She has been writing for the past 7 years. You may have read one of her stories that received worldwide coverage. It was accompanied by a compelling photograph of a young boy selling bits of candles in front of a large soccer stadium. Tears are streaming from his eyes in the picture as he points over his shoulder toward the soccer field. It’s been turned into a cemetery for the war dead. The boy told Nahala that his father and uncle are buried here. He recalled for her the afternoons they all used to play soccer here and picnic with other members of their family. Many of the dead are innocent victims of the war killed in the crossfire or victims of terrorist bombs. The boy’s father and uncle were murdered by Saddam’s troops for refusing to take up arms against the Americans.

My conversation with these remarkable women was very short but extremely impactful. They listened and responded with tremendous emotion speaking over each other as the translator tried to get them to speak one at a time.

Are these women glad Saddam is out of power? Yes. They all can’t wait to see him executed. What good does it do to live in a beautiful city when a butcher walks the streets believing he is a King one woman explains.

Do women have more freedom today than they had say 5 years ago? Yes. Nahala explains that under Saddam and strictly Muslim dictates women were like the walking dead. They couldn’t speak, their ideas were not important, they had no choices in life. The best they could hope for was favor with someone of status or a soldier or some Bathist politician.

Is the war worth the cost of so many lives? Yes. They told me so many more people were murdered by Saddam than anyone is reporting. They said entire clans of families disappeared overnight. They said that near the end of the war some Iraqi troops were ordered to kill Iraqi citizens in the way of the approaching troops to make it look like the American were killing innocent people.

Do you think the U.S. should pull out all of its troops as soon as possible? No. They told me they, as women, fear the old order will return. They know that the Iraqi forces must eventually take over but only when they are strong enough to fight the Syrian terrorists that are flooding into their country. They are also very anxious to take on more responsibilities of governing and protecting their country. They say women will play a key role because of all their suffering they are ready for the difficult times which they know will lead to a free Iraq.

My time with our guests was running out. We all politely shook hands. I turned to one of the ladies who seemed to understand English better than the others. I asked her if she was excited about the vote for new leaders upcoming. “Yes. Yes. Yes. We are excited and so very hopeful,” she told me.

Finally, I told her about two of my former soccer players who are now in the Marines and have served three and four terms in Iraq and are still there fighting. I also mentioned a young boy I knew who had lost his life in a roadside bombing. This is what she told me word for word clutching my hand: “The blood of your sons and your daughters shed on our soil is more precious to us than even the blood of our own martyrs. May Allah be praised for the United States.” Never heard that side of the story from the main stream media have you?

Al Ruechel, Copyright 2005, All Rights Reserved

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