a_unique_person
13th March 2003, 07:00 AM
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/03/12/1047431092969.html
Prime Minister John Howard says he really cares about the rights of the Iraqi people, he just doesn't actually want anything to do with them as people.
The Al Ramahis say they just want a quiet life, yet it is hard to ignore the events on the news and the shadow of war.
They have a great hatred of the Iraqi regime but it is tempered by their experiences in the last Gulf War, which left them deeply distrustful of the United States. Sadiq, 35, is particularly suspicious of American motives. They have nothing to do with restoring democracy, he says. "Saddam is a tyrant, dictator, fascist and criminal," he says. "Any Iraqi with a brain wants him removed. But what does America want? They want Iraqi oil."
His apprehension about the Americans is, to a large extent, based on his own experience. His family come from the town of Najaf, south of Baghdad. Najaf is the site of the tomb of Ali, cousin to the prophet Muhammad, fourth caliph of Islam and founder of the Shiite strand of the Islamic religion. Like most Iraqis, the Al Ramahi family follow the Shiah tradition.
In Najaf, Sadiq's parents still own a supermarket and are quite well to do. During the last Gulf War, Sadiq was conscripted to fight in the army. After the American-led Operation Desert Storm demolished Saddam's defences, the Iraqi people were urged by the US to revolt against the regime, which is dominated by minority Sunni Muslims. Many of them did, Sadiq included. "Then George Bush's father signed a treaty with Saddam. That allowed him to use every weapon he had to crush our revolt."
Sadiq's family found they had to flee to Kuwait where they stayed in the limbo of a refugee camp for five years until the United Nations earmarked them for resettlement in Iran where Shiite Muslims were theoretically welcome. The Iranian welcome did not prove so warm, but they were told that they would be welcomed in the West. In November 1999 Sadiq left alone for Australia and after just a week travelling via Malaysia and Indonesia, arrived on Christmas Island. He was welcomed to Australia with 10 months in Woomera before being released on a TPV.
Prime Minister John Howard says he really cares about the rights of the Iraqi people, he just doesn't actually want anything to do with them as people.
The Al Ramahis say they just want a quiet life, yet it is hard to ignore the events on the news and the shadow of war.
They have a great hatred of the Iraqi regime but it is tempered by their experiences in the last Gulf War, which left them deeply distrustful of the United States. Sadiq, 35, is particularly suspicious of American motives. They have nothing to do with restoring democracy, he says. "Saddam is a tyrant, dictator, fascist and criminal," he says. "Any Iraqi with a brain wants him removed. But what does America want? They want Iraqi oil."
His apprehension about the Americans is, to a large extent, based on his own experience. His family come from the town of Najaf, south of Baghdad. Najaf is the site of the tomb of Ali, cousin to the prophet Muhammad, fourth caliph of Islam and founder of the Shiite strand of the Islamic religion. Like most Iraqis, the Al Ramahi family follow the Shiah tradition.
In Najaf, Sadiq's parents still own a supermarket and are quite well to do. During the last Gulf War, Sadiq was conscripted to fight in the army. After the American-led Operation Desert Storm demolished Saddam's defences, the Iraqi people were urged by the US to revolt against the regime, which is dominated by minority Sunni Muslims. Many of them did, Sadiq included. "Then George Bush's father signed a treaty with Saddam. That allowed him to use every weapon he had to crush our revolt."
Sadiq's family found they had to flee to Kuwait where they stayed in the limbo of a refugee camp for five years until the United Nations earmarked them for resettlement in Iran where Shiite Muslims were theoretically welcome. The Iranian welcome did not prove so warm, but they were told that they would be welcomed in the West. In November 1999 Sadiq left alone for Australia and after just a week travelling via Malaysia and Indonesia, arrived on Christmas Island. He was welcomed to Australia with 10 months in Woomera before being released on a TPV.