Shared experiences of war

In an effort to clear the political air, Portland State hosted a panel of residents from Iraq and its surrounding region, who shared personal experiences and opinions about the U.S. occupation of the war-torn country at a panel discussion yesterday.

The panel, “Iraq and Neighboring Countries: Personal Perspectives,” was held in order to enlighten people about Iraq and its history, something that many people don’t know much about, but is nevertheless important, said Jean Campbell, associate director of the Middle East Studies Center.

Campbell moderated the event, which was held Tuesday, Nov. 18 in the multicultural center of Smith Memorial Student Union.

It is important to be aware of the different experiences that they each have faced, and why people should recognize different worldviews regarding Iraq, she said.

“Unless you are a political science professor, your knowledge [of Iraqi history] is usually very limited, and yet it is impacting the entire world,” Campbell said. “We could pack this room with interesting people and we still would not have speakers from every country and every viewpoint in or surrounding Iraq.”

One of these speakers was Ammar Betros, who moved to the United States in the 1980s during the Iran-Iraq war. Ammar says that it was difficult to live in the United States and see his home country go through years of war.

After the events of 9/11, Betros said he was fortunate that he was not discriminated against as often as other Middle Eastern immigrants because of his light skin and eye color, and security never bothered him at airports.

Betros did say a police car with tinted windows stayed outside of his home in Lake Oswego for three months.

“They never talked to me. I’d go and tap on the window, but they didn’t reply to me. They were always there,” Betros said.

Betros said that now Iraq is unfamiliar to him.

“Iraq today is not a country I know. To me, it is now a foreign country,” Betros said. “When I left, it was somewhat prosperous. Under Saddam’s rule, yes, but prosperous. Today, everyone knows it is a war-ravaged country and difficult to live there–the absolute minimal standards of living. It’s a shame. It’s a waste.”

When asked if he thought that the American operation in Iraq was a mistake, he said that when they first invaded–or “liberated”–he felt good about it. The way the United States handled the invasion, was not good, Betros said.

“The current administration has very little regard for the Iraqis well-being in general. I don’t think it was a mistake to get rid of Saddam, but everything else was a mistake,” he said.

Shakhawn Shakani, a Kurd from Northern Iraq, said he has had different experiences in Iraq.

Because of his religion, Shakani was considered a second-class citizen under Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship–he did not know his own birthday and was denied a passport until 1991, he said.

“The freedom is different today,” he said. “We don’t know what is going to happen in the future–we’d love to be one country, one flag, in one piece, but we have a lot of issues.”

Shakani said he also felt that the liberation from Hussein’s regime was handled improperly.

“We thought everything was going so well at first–until the day Bush flew down on his plane and said that the operation was done,” he said. “Everything changed and fell apart.”

The media didn’t accurately represent what was actually going on, Shakani said.

“I came back and watched CNN reporting on the war, and it was a very interesting contrast. They cleaned it up. They didn’t show any of the atrocities.”

As someone who lived through war in Iraq, Dr. Masoud Kheirabadi, a visiting professor to the university, said he is glad President-Elect Barack Obama won the election.

“I hope this man has more sense than President Bush and can end the aggressions in Iraq,” he said. “Let these people live their lives and solve their own problems.”

Many Americans fear that if the United States backs out of Iraq too soon, the evacuation of American troops will damage will the region even further–a fear not founded in fact, Kheirabadi said.

He compared the fear of quick withdrawal from Iraq to the similar fears during Vietnam: As soon as troops leave, things will fall apart. However, Vietnam was able to prosper, he said.

“Many of the atrocities in Iraq right now were not as significant until the United States’ influence,” Kheirabadi said. “You call resistors terrorists, but they are just fighting occupation. Most of the ‘terrorists’ are from outside countries. [People] think that if America leaves now, they will all kill each other. That isn’t going to happen-we aren’t savages.”

Kheirabadi said that the audience should not take his comments about the United States the wrong way.

“To me this country is great because you are allowed to be critical,” said Kheirabadi about the United States. So don’t think my frankness is unpatriotic–it is in fact the opposite.”