Iraqi Living In USA - His Thoughts About America
Good morning, guys. We all know that America and Iraq have a very turbulent history but the story the media fails to capture is the one of Iraqis living in the USA. What are their experiences like? How have they integrated into American society? What can we learn from them? So today we have the great honor to meet a local Iraqi-American living here outside of Detroit Fidel who is going to bring us into his world.
Is this Fidel? Yes, it is Fidel. How's it going, Peter? Thank you, brother. -Good seeing you. -Thanks for bringing us out. -You're welcome here anytime.
All right, here he is. I haven't met him yet in person we talked on the phone. But already I can tell, cool energy nice smile. How's it going, buddy? -Thank you. Looks like we've met but we've never met. Very warm, very warm.
Fidel, you got a great neighborhood out here. -It is beautiful. -You've lived in the US for how long? -I've been here since '93. So after Desert Storm? -Yeah. My barely teenage was over there in Iraq and then I came here. -Okay, so you're gonna have great perspective.
Your neighbors here they're born in the US? They're all different backgrounds? -Different backgrounds. Americans, Italians, Iraqis, you see a few Yemenis, a few Lebanese around here living in peace. As one big family. -You guys get along pretty well? -Oh yeah, we get along pretty well. Never had an issue.
Not looking to have an issue anytime soon. These are the cookies from the beautiful neighbor over there, Kathy. -Oh thank you, Kathy. I don't think she's watching but...
-She just left actually. She saw us eating out here So she was like "You know what, here's some cookies for you guys." -I know a little bit of what we're getting into today. These are all Iraqis? -All Iraqis. -We're doing an Iraqi theme today. So I'm gonna get into your thought process about living in the US and Iraq, and these sorts of things but we're gonna do fun things along the way. Got a crazy car we're seeing.
We got a cop we're seeing, Iraqi cop. Iraqi food. So you have Arab channels on the radio? So you have Arab channels on the radio? -Arab channels, yes. Arab channels, Arab newspapers.
Is there any competition ever? Like, "I'm Iraqi and my food's better. You're Lebanese and blah, blah, blah."? -You can sense it sometimes but it's like people go for with whoever have the better food.
-I don't know Iraqi food but I know Lebanese is good. Lebanese is top-notch. You're about to taste the best Iraqi kebab ever. Downtown Dearborn, it's sort of a driving place.
Oh my God, you're getting some bad Canadian influence there Tim Hortons. -There is a lot of Tim Hortons around here. -Stay away from that. Do you need to lock here? -We're good, we're surrounded by Iraqis so we're safe. [chuckles] We're safe.
-I have the Iraqi guarantee here. Assalamu alaikum. I need a haircut. What style do you suggest? Low fade with some stripes maybe, some lines? The Detroit Lions come to you guys for haircuts? Signed jersey is Darius Slay right there. He's plays for the Philadelphia Eagles now. Iraqis are the best barbers. I'm not going to lie to you.
This is not done. -It's not done yet. -That's a start, okay. You know it's very good to see people like Al Not even being Iraqi.
Just being from the Islamic and Arabic... -Middle Eastern community. What's your take on this place? -It's solid, everybody professional. They're cool as f*ck. It's a good energy and everything. -And this is your boy over here? He does your cuts? MG? MG, you got a beautiful beard I gotta say. And there is the high-school right around here is I would say 97% of it is Arabs.
-Yep. I would say maybe 50% of it is Iraqis. -Okay.
It's right around here. It's a very historical high-school. I was a good soccer player. I had a scholarship from UCLA but we did not know anything about scholarships.
So my dad was against it. He was like, "You're not going there by yourself alone. You are single, you are still a teenager. You're not going there. You're not traveling." We did not know what scholarship is. -So you were that good? -Pro Player.
Until now, I still played. How much was that scholarship, like 30 grand, 40 grand at that time? I never knew. We didn't know what scholarship is. Some bad advice from dad, huh? I mean everything happens for a reason could have been something else. For me to go by myself there alone. -My dad took my whole stock portfolio and put it into the ground.
So I know what you mean. But now my nieces, my nephews everyone has a full ride going to college and everything. They're happy about it. Nobody tells them nothing. 'Cause now we have more understanding of what's going on.
-Got you, got you. Okay, so you were saying in the car I didn't get it on camera something about you were taught in Iraq that when you come to the USA women are gonna kidnap you. Yeah, there is the gangs of women going around. That was a long time ago. You know how Americans have image of what Iraq is and overseas they have images of Americans. They were telling us this is what's gonna happen.
-Right. All right, guys. Here we are in a neighborhood that Fidel was saying is primarily Arab. Arab neighborhood, yeah? -Yes it is. So this is Arab style I would say, right? I left Iraq in 5th grade. I lived in a refugee camp for about two years.
-Where? Survived that refugee camp in Saudi Arabia. Was right around the border line between Saudi Arabia and the south of Iraq. -And then you came to the states from there? -I luckily stayed for two years. Other people stayed there for many years. Longer than 10 years stayed in there. There wasn't any source of light there.
All just sand and tents you have to live in there. Surrounded with army and in that camp also we had the army invaded us into that camp. The Saudi army? -Saudi Army. Helicopters, Bradleys, Humvees, soldiers put everybody against the tents searched everybody. -So then how did you get to the USA? By the United Nations. They came into the refugee camp and started taking people out.
Meeting with people, doing interviews and they selected the people that they wanted. And the people, when they arrived here they bring the people that they know. -How do you feel as an Iraqi in the US how has America taken you in lets say? Or how has your experience been? -When I first arrived I never had an idea what America is like. -Okay Never had an idea how to associate with Americans. My neighborhood was a good neighborhood.
When I first arrived here I was in Erie Pennsylvania. -Okay. Yeah, so my neighbors were always nice to me. So I had a different image than what I was told. I was told differently than what I was experiencing.
-So people were cool to you? -Yeah. Very nice, actually. -And how is it now? Now it's different -How? -I see the difference between Americans before and the difference between Americans now. I don't want to say racism but you can see it. You can sense it.
-Was this after September 11th? -That was after September 11th. -That changed it? -And that is because of... I'll be honest about this because of politicians. The way they put it.
It's not because of the people. -And the media, how it spun it? -In the media, that's exactly what it is. -Okay, so I think before September 11th most Americans had no idea about Islam or Muslims and then their first introduction was bombings. -September 11th, bombings. -Instability chaos and then the media tied that to Islam very closely. -Islam and Muslims.
-And then what are people gonna thing if that's their only information, right? -Exactly, exactly. I think they did that to use it as an excuse to invade the Middle East. I hate talking about politics man. I don't want to go near it.
-No, it's cool. I generally stay out of politics in this channel. I really try my hardest but it's hard to avoid it sometimes.
-It is what it is. -I mean to me that was the biggest blunder in US foreign policy. I remember 1991, sitting at a restaurant. I was a kid.
When was that? January 17th or 16th? -Right about that time -42 days of bombing, right? -Mm-hmm. This is honestly what sparked this work. I was like "Okay, all over the media for 42 days and then it stopped, 100%." and then I was like "What did those people think? How are they living now?" Like what is their world like now after 42 days of bombing? -Exactly. -And that's what got me curious about the world.
Because I felt like the media let us down. That was the time of three channels. At least that's what I had.
-And one thing I don't get actually is September 11th happened because they say Osama Bin Laden, Saudi. What does Iraq have to do with it? As a young child I understood that... Look, Saddam, Ba'athist party secular that guy fears radical Islam more than anyone because they want to take him out He doesn't represent their interests. As much as a bad dude as that guy was -Exactly. -He was not pushing Islam on people, right? -Huh-uh. -Women didn't have to wear head scarves under Saddam? -They were not forced to.
He wasn't connected to Bin Laden but they framed it that way and they lied us into that war and that's why I feel a bit guilty and I'm gonna let you run in a second I just gotta get this out. That's why I feel a little bit I don't know if guilty is the word but I always felt for Iraqis because that invasion destabilized the country. So I wanted to meet Iraqis.
I went to Syria when it was safe, 2008. Met Iraqis these people all had to leave their land many of their lives destroyed many of their families broken up, whatever. -Everything.
-Despite that they knew I was American they would invite me in and say, "Would you like some tea?" -They still do that. -And so they didn't take their anger out on me which was unbelievable. -They know it had nothing to do with the population of Americans.
They know it's all about politics. -Right. -They know this because we've been through it. We lived our lives wars... Over war...
I was raised in two wars. Saddam was controlling too much of the country You were always on the run because of something you did not do yourself. Because probably your brother did it or a friend of your brother did it. So they come and take you instead of taking somebody they come and take you until your brother returns back. They came, invaded my house.
Security forces of Saddam invaded my house. My brother did not join the Iraqi army. They invaded my house. They did not capture my brother.
They came back looking for the little ones until the brother comes back. So we went out on the roof of the next-door neighbor we snuck out the outside door. The snitch that snitched on my brother came and picked us up. He was like, "What happened to your brother?" We told him they captured him.
So he picked us up. He asked us where we were going. So we said we were going to my cousin's house. -Right. -And this is where he took us. The same snitch that snitched on my brother came back from around the house met us, picked us up and took us somewhere else.
To a safe haven I would say. -Safe haven? -Yeah. -So how did you feel when the Americans went into Iraq? -At first we were happy 'cause we were told... -And we're talking 2002? -2002, that was the second time. 2002, approaching 2003 I believe.
Right around that time, yeah. We were happy. -You were happy? -In the beginning because they were talking about bringing democracy Iraq is gonna be one of the most valuable countries in the Middle East. Everybody's gonna look up to.
Now look at it. -Yeah, but how do you bring democracy? Doesn't it need to come bubble up from the... You can not... From the culture, right? -Exactly.
So do you think the US government did not understand that somewhat basic fact or do you think they knew it? -They knew exactly what they were doing. They know how many pieces of hair you have. [laughter] -With all the cameras these days, yeah. No doubt. -They know exactly what they're doing.
Trust me, man. They know exactly what they're doing. Yeah. -So it was by design but by that design it destroyed a lot of people's lives but also you didn't come at that wave but some people did come over to the US at that time, right? Some Iraqis? -Iraqis started migrating out of Iraq right after the Gulf War. -'91. Yeah, we never had that experience.
You go outside the country 'cause we were not allowed. You were not allowed to have passports outside Iraq. What about Iraqis, have any come over recently to the US? -Palestinian flag right there.
Palestinian, yeah. The Israeli flag wouldn't do well in this neighborhood. Let's be honest.
-No, no, there was one. There was one right across from the... -Really? -Yeah.
-Forston High-School, there was one. This country is Allah country. -Is what? -Allah country, there is a constitution country here.
You live, you don't harm people, you're good. Put whatever flag. Put the gay flag if you like. They don't care. As long as you don't harm others.
That's the reason most of us chose America to be here. -You chose America? -Yeah. -You didn't want to go to Europe? -No. I'm happy to be here in America which is... Can't complain about, you know? I like it, myself. -And what do you do? What's your profession? -I was in college two years.
After I left college I was in the private contracting that I told you about and then I... -Private contractor for government, okay. -For government. -We can't go into detail you said but... -Yeah, yeah. And then now I'm running a trucking company. -How's that? -I drive myself sometimes. I like it. I've been in it for the past almost...
2009, I started. I like it. -This is a great neighborhood. Very calm safe-feeling.
Iraq is very unpredictable, honestly -Okay. -Very unpredictable. -Is that why you guys like the US, it feels more predictable? -Yes.
'Cause here is more secure future. -How do you feel now after this last year? Do you still feel that secure future? Predictability? -It's better than any other country, I would say that. -You can see everyone here is covered. All the women are covered and then you're into like a normal American strip-mall environment. Very interesting. It's gotta be a challenge having kids though.
The values are so different between Iraq and here. -You cannot enforce it, you have to teach. You cannot enforce something. -Because you want them to blend in here, right? -Exactly.
But you don't want them to blend in all the way. -What do you mean by all the way? -All the way like when you're 18 years old you just leave right out of your house. -You don't want them to do that? -I don't want that to happen.
-You don't want your... -I want my family to stay close to me. I want my family to stay more belong to their moms and dads through thier good times or bad times.
-You don't want them to dress in ways that are provocative, right? -That is number one. I want them to be presentable. -How do you control that though with like Instagram and all these forces out there? -I don't want to say it is hard but we try to monitor, control things. -Okay.
-And then I mean whatever happens we try to teach them not enforce it but teach them what's the good way. Show them something... Alternatives.
-Tell me where to stop, wherever you want me to stop. Your brother died, can I ask how? -He died because he stayed. The Iraqi forces Saddam Iraqi forces came trying to take over the city.
Trying to take back the city from the from the uprisers. That uprose against Saddam’s Ba'ath Party. And my brother did not want to leave. He said, "I'm staying here. I'm not leaving."
We've been waiting for this day to take Iraq back to the people. To get rid of Saddam and he stayed there until he got... God bless his soul... -This was '91?
-That was in '91, the uprising that we had, yeah. -Okay. -That uprising was active for about 21 days. -Oh, wow.
-Yeah, I was what, 11, 12 years old? And I remember I was in my mom's lap I was hearing explosions all over the place. I was seeing what they call it? Something similar to fireworks to lighten up the... It was at night. To lighten up the area so people can see. So the army can see where is the people movement. My dad telling my mom we have to get ready to get moving.
We have to leave the country. We have to leave the city because the army is moving in. -Right. -And then we called the neighbors of ours he has a dump truck.
They got all of us back into this dump truck and then we made a stop to pick up my brother the dead brother I just told you about. To pick him up from this certain area he was in. He said he's not leaving, he's staying there.
So we went across from the city to the country and I was seeing with my own eyes the helicopters were cleaning out the area from the people we used to call the Mujahideen. Against Saddam’s Ba'ath party. -Cleaning out as in just bombing everything? Bombing everything. So we took off.
We got to a place a safer place and then all we know is my brother and his buddies... I was on the other side. My brother, the one we talked to He was online earlier.
He came to me. He was like, "Hey Fidel, come here." I was like, "What's going on?" and he had tears in his eye.
My brother was named Ali and this is why I named my son Ali. And so my brother came to me, he was like, "Ali got killed." I couldn't take in my mind. I couldn't take it in my mind but we were doing everything fast as we go because we were fleeing the country.
So we put him in that land. That's the land I was telling you about and we took off. Then we took off from one city to another city. Until we got, let's say to to the middle of Iraq. It was just me my older brother... One year older.
And it was the ladies and my dad and all we know is that Saddam’s army going inside of the cities with sirens playing songs for Saddam. Calling out for everybody to come out. They put us in the big land, open land and helicopters were flying on top of our heads. They separated... -Wait, wait, music, Saddam's music played everyone had to go out into the streets...
They were with sirens, they were telling mandatory. -And when you went out did you feel you were just gonna get... -We were scared. We thought we were gonna get... Because it happens. People were in mass graves.
This is what they normally do Most of the people were put in mass graves. They took everybody out. They wanted to separate the young men and leave the children and women on one side. The young men, they were taken out.
They were put in mass graves. They were gone, disappeared. Even to this day, they're still discovering mass graves here and there. -So how did you and your family avoid that? -How did we avoid it? It was just me and my one-year-older brother. We were young. They expected us would never carry a gun. They let us go with the women.
Because we were young. We were much younger than the other ones. -So if you were a few years older you wouldn't have gone? I would have been gone. I wouldn't be here now. -You would have been shot? -I said I woulda been done. Not shot, they dig in the ground a big hole.
They put you in there. They bury you alive, put sand on top of you. -They bury you alive? -They bury you alive, yes. -They didn't shoot you, push you down? They don't shoot you, they just put you in a dump truck and they flip you back in this big hole and they bury you, death, that's it.
When we fled Iraq my brother, we couldn't bury him where we wanted to bury him. So we were fleeing Iraq. We buried him in an emergency place.
Just to bury him so we could take off and leave. And we waited for all those years until got rid of Saddam. My dad went back to take him out of his grave and sent him to Najaf where the Sharain of Imam Ali. Most of the Shia, they bury their dead ones at that spot. -Fast forward to the second invasion.
You were for it. You were for Saddam getting removed -Mm-hmm. -But then again on the street back there you said you were not for the invasion. Is it super complicated? Is that what it is? -It is super complicated. It would have been much easier to have a solution to Iraq instead of invading the whole country.
-You were glad to see Saddam go. -I'm glad to see him go but I'm not glad to see Iraq as it is right now. -Okay. Is that how a lot of people feel? -Most of us feel like this. -And it depends if you're Sunni or Shia, right? Not really there's a lot of Sunnis been also tortured. -Okay, but if you're Kurd you're 100% happy the Americans came in? -Kurds are very happy.
-'Cause they've been left alone? -I wouldn't blame them. They were in a green zone for almost 10 years. Saddam was not allowed to go into the north side of Iraq. It's sorrowful to rethink back all this... Everything that happened. -Okay, we can stop whenever 'cause it's a window in that most of us don't have.
-Yeah. -And the more I dig into everything It's more complicated than it... So deep, so deep. It's like I have to take you back and forth through the story to put everything back in pieces to understand exactly what happened. -Okay, okay. Look, there's no silver lining in any of this it seems like but is there anything, a tool that it's given you to become stronger in life or to navigate life better? Is there anything you've gotten out of it? That's exactly what I got.
Now I look at big things as a little thing in my life Like the other day we didn't have hot water. My kids were complaining "How am I gonna take a shower?" I'm like, "C'mon man, you serious?" I got me a pot fill it up with water put it on the stove heated the water, went back into the shower. That's it, it's done.
It basically moved the goal posts. -Yeah, exactly, exactly, exactly. I mean hard situations makes you a hard man. People should appreciate what they have. For the littlest thing they have, they should appreciate. What's that over there? It's madrasa school where they teach you about God.
Strictly religious school Most of Islam that I've seen is good. Most people have been open, friendly. I think it's being taught in a peaceful way but how much of it is taught in a more militant way, let's say? Well you have to know the differences between a political Islam and just a regular Islamic people who want just to live like everybody else.
-Right. -There's big differences between them. -How many are involved with political Islam versus let's say, regular Islam? -Very small percentage but they had a loud voice. -They have the loud voice? -Yeah. -And in the US too? -I don't think in the US they do.
-There is Mom calling. SPEAKER: Incoming call, press uConnect phone button to answer. -That's your mom? -No, no, that is actually my wife. I call her mom.
She treat me like her son. Where you going? Where you at now? She's calling. Oh, there we go. You were saying that Islam Some are looking at it as just Islam.
Some are looking at it as politics. It is a theocratic religion, right? -It is, yes. -In the Middle East it's the politics and the religion are tied together. -Uh... -Depending on the country? -Depending on the mentality of the people to be honest. A lot of us they minding their own business over there.
I'm talking inside of my country, Iraq. A lot of us, they're minding their own business. Most, their worry is where they're going out to eat.
Where they're gonna go hang out Because lifestyle there is different than here. You don't have to work from this certain hour to this certain hour They work in the morning. 8:00, 9:00 in the morning wake up, eat their breakfast, they go to work a few hours, four or five hours. They come back, sleep. They go open up their shop again from five to seven. They'll go dress up, they go hang out.
-This is an interesting shot right here. Trump, American Flag... I'm gonna show you Trump and Allah right there. Woman in head scarf.
That's why I love doing this work. I see things I would never imagine. -This is what I do, I go around here.
-Doesn't mean that's her flag though. -There's Trump and Allah, something you're gonna like -Oh, wow. So unpack that for me. There are some Muslims here that are big Trump fans? See right there? "We don't care where you came from but now you are our neighbors so we love you." Something like that. -You like to see those? -Yeah, I like it actually. Yes, I do. -How do you feel when you see the Trump sign? -I don't mind it.
I personally don't mind it. -I never thought I'd see Arabic scripts next to... This is the elementary school for your daughter? -Education here is much different than overseas. Here we see a diverse... Here we see a diverse education.
I used to stay home listening to the teacher that teaches my kids online. A lot of the names she mentions is Islamic names, to be honest. Mohammad, Omar, something like this. -In the public school? -In the public school. Probably you would hear it somewhere else like say maybe somewhere like European countries of course you hear that but you don't hear that in Arab countries Like you know what? Like in a dialogue you don't hear Chris says, this, this, and that into an Arabic conversation but here you hear it into the English conversations Mohammad says, this, this, this, and that. That is teaching kids here, students here.
When I hear these words I defend this country more I try to tell people this is not everything that you have heard I feel I belong to here. It makes me get more offensive when I hear something bad being said about the Americans. Yeah so I tell people, "You know what?" 'Cause when I was overseas in Iraq they were telling me about America.
You know what? Why are you in this... Why are all you guys in this Koffer country? -In this what country? Koffer country. Koffer country means people who does not believe in God. -Okay. This is not a koffer country, you know what a koffer country is? You guys are a koffer country. Honestly, this is exactly what I tell them.
For homeless there is an option for you to go look for a home. If you are jobless there is the option for you to get a job regardless where you came from. Regardless what you nationality is. -Right. -They help you out. That doesn't happen in the Arab countries.
That is the truth. That is the reality we're living here. So we get offensive when we hear that overseas they're telling us this is true. We tell them exactly what it is. That is something they need to know about. -So when you go back to Iraq you're speaking proudly about the US.
-I do, I do. I speak proudly about the US, the justice in the US. And I even told them that because one image they have about America here is like you go there, you get all the women you want... There's my daughter right there. -Your dad's a pretty funny guy, you think so? -He is funny. -He's funny.
-But he's fun. [chuckles] -Aww. So cute. -C'mon, you want to go home? -How was school? Good.
-Careful now. My pleasure, my pain. -That is my wife's... I say her name is my pleasure, my pain.
Ah, my pleasure, my pain. -Hi mother. <Hello.
[Arabic] -Mommy. <[Arabic] Well, she is my pleasure, my pain. She's the one that makes me happy. She's the one that makes me cry.
No matter how happy I am, she can make me cry. No matter how sad I am with her warm hug She can calm everything down. -Behind the doors of the home, who is in control? Honestly, she is.
Yeah, she controls my wallet. She's the one that runs the home. Even though I act like I'm the man of the house but she runs the home. And every day you see demolishing homes here rebuilding into much bigger homes.
-That's definitely an Arab. -All of them, Arabs. -All of them? -All of them. -Big homes, Arab. Columns, Arabs.
-That, the copper... -That's one of them, yes. That's what I'm telling you. We came from big home. My house was a three story house. Almost nine bedrooms in there. My dad spent most of his savings for building this house.
-Yeah, and it's not just Arabs showing off everyone does that. -Yeah, I mean if you have the money, why not enjoy it? Honestly. -That's true. We don't like to feel like someone owns us. We like to work hard to own our homes work hard to own our businesses work hard to own our own cars. We don't like to feel like there is someone behind we have to run back to, you know? -Okay.
That is one thing and that comes out of hard work especially when we first come in here we worked hard to accomplish what we were looking for. and there is I don't want to say a lot of people hate on us because of this because we have nice things. You see a lot of people envious. They think when we get here government...
The government gives us nice cars and nice homes. Which is totally not true. -People honestly think the government is giving you nice cars? -They think this is what they do. They think the government gives us nice homes and nice cars. -What happens to Iraqis that come here right now? -They get assistance in the beginning. -Like what? -They give them food stamps, cards to get them going.
But Iraqis do not like to live like this. -Okay, Iraqis... -They're here, they have dreams. Especially the new ones that are coming here. They're not coming here to be laid back and get paid by the government and just eat, sleep, repeat.
-You're not going to represent your people poorly, obviously. You think most people? -Most people I would say. -Some are mooching off the system, right? That's always the case. There's some lazy people.
-I honestly would say a very small percentage. They're hard working people. That's from my experience. Hard working people.
-Well look, the US policy destabilized the country dramatically So I get we owe something to the Iraqi people, I feel. -I mean, owing something to the Iraqi people? I mean I would say just leave them alone. Just leave them alone. Don't do it. -Don't do anything? Yeah, just help them. Maybe help them to reestablish their act together.
-No, no, no, no more nation building. We already went through that. Leave them alone, let them build their own homes. Just don't bother them, leave them alone, let them do it. -Leave Iraq alone right now? Let them do it, yeah. Let the country figure out itself? -Let the country figure out itself, exactly.
All right, guys. Always interesting to see things through someone else's perspective. Especially an immigrant's perspective and Fidel came over a long time ago. But he still has his feet in both worlds.
I believe everyone we came into contact with today is Muslim. Fidel practices five times a day He told me, practices Salat. And then I think there are just varying degrees.
Just like I would... Someone asks what religion, ah... I guess I'm protestant. I was born protestant.
I don't practice. So when people think of Islam or look at Muslims it's the same thing. The range is massive and you can be at this side of the spectrum or this side of the spectrum and a lot in between. And secondly, in my content I usually avoid politics for the most part. It seeps in to certain videos but I try to steer the needle away from it as much as I can but a video like this about America and Iraq there's no way of avoiding it.
It's going to seep in. Rightfully so. The countries have very turbulent histories with each other geopolitically.
I was against the war from the get-go. Really upset when it started. Never wanted it and it was interesting hearing Fidel speak about it.
How he loved that Saddam was taken out obviously. From his history with Saddam and how the country was run. But then wasn't really for the way the war continued on.
So the point I'm trying to make here is it's like most things in life. Like most of this content. Like most religion and most topics. The deeper you go into them, the more murky and gray, and confusing they get. So take that with you if that's the one take away from this video.
That was one opinion. Fidel talking about his thoughts about American intervention in Iraq. There are going to be many different opinions depending on where the person is from if you go to Erbil in Kurdistan, in the far North.
I think, I haven't been there but I think 100% of the people or close to it are gonna be very happy with the US's invasion. Now if you go to Baghdad and you're Sunni I think it's going to be a different story to some degree and then imagine if you lost somebody. If a family member was killed because of the war what would that do to your feeling about the invasion? So something to think about with these videos.
I'm not trying to provide an answer. I'm just trying to provide you a way in and you can interpret it how you'd like to. Thanks for coming along. And if you haven't seen my other videos in the series I'll have them down in the playlist and some more interesting content coming your way.
Okay, until the next one.
2021-11-07 20:31
