"BAGHDAD -- In 2003, when Saddam Hussein ruled Iraq, a woman named Hamdiyah al-Dulaimi had three handsome sons. They had grown into good men with wives and families. They were the shining accomplishments of her life.
"In hindsight, it was a much better life than she realized at the time. Most certainly better than it is now, four years after the fall of Baghdad.
"On April 9, 2003, the people of the city cheered invading U.S. soldiers in the city square. Leaders of the coalition troops promised liberty, freedom and life without tyranny.
"But Baghdad still has none of those things. And al-Dulaimi has no sons.
"One day last spring, a dozen men in black uniforms knocked down her door with machine guns. They screamed "Filthy Sunnis!" and they handcuffed her sons: Haqqi, 39, Qais, 37, Ali, 31.
"'Why? What did my boys do?" the mother cried. She got no answers. The dozen gunmen dragged their new prisoners across the floor, pummeling heads with their rifle butts.
"Al-Dulaimi dropped to her knees, clinging to the ankles of a kidnapper. She begged, kissing his shoes. Then she bargained: "At least leave me one. Take the other two. Leave me one."
"They beat her head with their gunstocks until she passed out. Then they took her sons.
"The next day, their corpses were on the sidewalk. Haqqi's body was headless. The bodies of Qais and Ali had been mutilated; some parts were missing.
"Like so many others, their grieving mother fled -- to Syria, in her case.
No comments:
Post a Comment