'It is like a dream': Kirkukis overjoyed

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ^ | April 11, 2003 | Betsy Hiel

[buzzyboop]

Abbas Muhammed stood in front of the burned office of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party today. On his left, children hurled bricks at a bullet-pocked, scribbled-on portrait of Saddam.

“When we heard of the advancing coalition,” said Abbas, 25, “we rose up and walked out into the streets.” Then he and his neighbors led 500 Kurdish peshmerga fighters and a handful of U.S. special operations troops to Iraqi offices and military garrisons.

In yet another dramatic day in Iraq, the northern oil center of Kirkuk, a city of 600,000, fell from Saddam’s grasp.

Thousands of Kirkukis danced, sang and cried with joy in the city’s streets and public squares. They smashed statues and defaced portraits of the deposed Iraqi dictator.

[buzzyboop]

A war reporter as they're meant to be.. just the facts.

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[dighton]

Nikola Solic/Reuters

[willyboyishere]

Those vivid and ample descriptions of the Aziz house and compound reveal the true schizophrenic face of most of the
Middle East---apparently they just arrived at our culture,
proverbially a dollar short and a day late.

[Vigilanteman]

It is no wonder that the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review continues to bick up market share from the Compost-Gazette. In case you missed it, the front page photo of the Post-Gazette was a family mourning their father who had died for refusing to stop at a narine check-point.

[The Hon. Galahad Threepwood]

Mmmmm...Kircookies....

[Batrachian]

I think they're called "Kirkuknics".

[ChadGore]

I had my Kircookipops this morning, did you?

[solzhenitsyn]

As she talked of a better future for herself and her children, Kurdish teacher Salwa Ibrahim also said “we are so sorry for your murdered American and British servicemen – they sacrificed themselves for us. We thank Mr. Bush and Mr. Blair.

“ 'Thank you' is not the best word,” she added. “If there was a better one, I would use it.”

Thanks for posting this, buzzyboop. And I wish I could thank Betsy Hiel for writing this beautiful, joyous article.

[solzhenitsyn]

Here's the letter I just sent to Ms. Hiel's editor at opinion@tribweb.com:

Dear Friends,

I just read Betsy Hiel's superb article titled, "'It is like a dream': Kirkukis overjoyed". For the record, I saw a link to the article at the online forum, freerepublic.com.

So many of the stories I read about the war in Iraq appear to be written by America-hating propagandists. It's so refreshing to find an article about the war that's presented straightforwardly, with no attempt to "spin" victory into failure. It's OK for Americans to feel good about it when our Armed Forces rescue an entire nation that has been brutalized by a sadistic madman for decades.

I salute Ms. Hiel's courage and integrity. She is an authentic journalist.

Sincerely,

[solzhenitsyn]

buzzy -- a Howard McClellan just emailed me from tribweb.com to verify that the above letter to the editor (reply no. 10) had been sent in by me. I replied that it was indeed my letter. I have an idea they're going to publish it (though perhaps not in print). Thanks again for posting Ms. Hiel's fine article!