[IPPN] Another Iraqi view on "dancing in the street"

This email is from an Iraqi corresponding with Lorna,
who was over there as part of the Mid Hudson Valley
Peace Brigade.

Dear Friends, Peace upon you all. Today is a sad day
for all the people of Iraq. Baghdad has been raped.
The singing and dancing in the streets .... is a
terrible movie.I cannot put it in a better way than my
husband, as he has said, "the American Army and the
Bush administration have used lots of horrible
weapons ... but the most lethal weapon of all ...is
the savage people, that they have unleashed in the
streets of Baghdad, calling them...the people of
Iraq!" Those people that you see on the streets, are
the people of "Althowra city" or as they call it
sometimes "Saddam's city." Those people do not in
any way resemble the people of Iraq. They resemble
the community of criminals in Iraq. As you can see,
they are not only dancing , but they are also
looting, robbing stores, stealing cars, burning
places, and trashing the streets!Those people whom you
see dancing were the very same people who
used to appear on TV, clapping for Saddam like crazy,
when everyone else was against him. They are
opportunists who have no principles at all. Always
with the winner, ... and they sell very cheap. I
don't think that it was a coincidence that the
American army has decided to enter Baghdad from this
city. Please...you can believe whatever you want,
just don't call a bunch of looters and murderers the
people of Iraq." The people of Iraq are not on
the streets because they are afraid of those
maniacs, who were unleashed into the streets, due to
the absence of the authority. Since I was in Iraq,
last February, the real people of Iraq were very
afraid of what these savages were planning to do, when
there was no government control, because the same
thing has happened after war in 1991. We don't
see people on the streets ... we only see a group of
men who are trashing the place and act like idiots.
The movie of "Baghdad Dancing" apparently was
successful, because everyone believes it. And no one
is asking about what is happening in the rest
of Baghdad. A lethal weapon indeed. Now that there
is no government, Baghdad is full of chaos.

The reporters are afraid to move, but they've visited
Al-Sinek area ... and there it was a different story.
The streets looked dark and deserted...No one was
dancing.There are places that have been bombed, and
traces of bloodstains covered the road. There were
families who are mourning the loss of loved ones
...the death of a father and three daughters.

The reporters drove in different places in Baghdad ...
the streets were empty. And there was a demonstration
by the foreigners in Iraq, and a
lady was saying, "this is all propaganda, many people
I know are against any presence of American army in
Iraq." Today, the American soldiers shot at an
ambulance that was carrying some casualties, killing
two and injuring three. In Basra, armed people
robbed a bank. Others burned a grain storage ...
when the soldiers were just observing and never
attempted to stop it.

They were the reason that there is no government in
the first place. So it is their responsibility to
keep the community safe ... they did come to
"free us and take care of us," after all. The war has
not ended in Baghdad, just because Saddam has
disappeared ... because it was never about Saddam.It
is about Iraq. Iraq is not State No. 51 ... and it
never will be. For more than 200 years, and up until
this day, People of America have been celebrating
their independence from the British ... on the 4th of
July.

I would say it is the biggest day for Americans. Why
does anyone expect us to celebrate our invasion?I
leave you all in peace.Yasmin --