Responses from Todd [Archives:2003/630/Letters to the Editor]
Todd DuQuette
Stockton, Ca – USA
[email protected]
I have responses to the Editor, Al-Haifi and Bin Sallam. First to the editor I say:
You say I am misguided, brainwashed & uninformed because I believe what President Bush is doing in Iraq but who is really being brainwashed. In America, we have access to all types of media coverage. I can read The New York Times or the Yemen Times. What choices do the Iraqi people have? They get the Saddam Times and nothing else. I have read many, many Middle Eastern newspapers and I can tell you, without a doubt, that American media serves its citizens better than any other country. We are not perfect, to be sure but the truth is out there for us if we are willing to find it. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the average Middle East citizen. Shame on you. You and your ilk call America war mongers, yet it is you (the Middle East) that has been fighting each other for thousands of years, with no end in sight. Saddam “The Butcher” Hussein raped his country and his people with the blessing of people like you. Iraq should be a prosperous country, yet Saddam has 25 palaces while his people starve. I'd be very careful if I were you, Yemen, very, very careful indeed.
To Hassan Al-Haifi I say:
I just read your article “Iraqi Insomnia?” and I am absolutely stunned. You seem to be somewhat educated yet the truth escapes you. How can you possibly condone the current Iraqi regimes atrocities? Saddam is nothing more than a murderous butcher. How can the Iraqi people possibly speak the truth. We here in America know the truth from the 1000's of Iraqi's now living here. Lets see…Saddam has 25 or so Palaces yet the average Iraqi citizen lives on 6 cents a day. Thousands of Iraqi people are starving daily but somehow this all gets overlooked. Anyone who knows even a little about the Middle East, knows that Iraq has long been a breeding ground for terrorism. It's a playground for the bad guys of the world. God bless George W. Bush for finally putting an end to the madness in Iraq. Who's next? Yemen?
And to Your reporter bin Sallam I say:
Jihad, Jihad, Jihad! That's all we ever hear from these Islamic terrorists. Bin Laden called for Jihad, now he is hiding in caves, running for his life. I say be careful who you call Jihad against. After we clean up Iraq, who will be next? Yemen? It's your choice.
Dear Todd,
Thank you very much for your interest in the YT and in my column. I would like to assure you that I have never defended and will never defend Saddam Hussein or any of the Arab ruling regimes and even before George Bush ever heard of Saddam Hussein, I have been outspoken against him and his likes. Having said all that, I can assure you that the real ulterior motives behind the latest carnage in Iraq are far beyond the removal of Saddam Hussein and are not all together solely for solidifying American interests in the region. I appreciate the fact the majority of Americans, who support the Administration's seemingly innocent policy in Iraq do so for good intentions, but the fact of the matter is the consequences are neither good for the Iraqis, the Arabs or the Americans. Please read this week's column as I go more deeply into this and there are previous articles that underscore this point more plainly, if you wish to delve into the YT archives.
Again, I thank you for your interest and fully acknowledge your good intentions.
Hassan Al-Haifi
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