Chris Adams

Amir Taheri describes his experience in an anti-war march:

I spent part of last Saturday with the so-called “antiwar” marchers in London in the company of some Iraqi friends. Our aim had been to persuade the organizers to let at least one Iraqi voice to be heard. Soon, however, it became clear that the organizers were as anxious to stifle the voice of the Iraqis in exile, as was Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

The Iraqis had come with placards reading, “Freedom for Iraq” and “American rule, a hundred thousand times better than Takriti tyranny!”

But the tough guys who supervised the march would have none of that. Only official placards, manufactured in thousands and distributed among the “spontaneous” marchers, were allowed. These read “Bush and Blair, baby-killers,” “ Not in my name,” “Freedom for Palestine” and “Indict Bush and Sharon.” Not one placard demanded that Saddam should disarm to avoid war.

I particularly appreciated this comment toward the end of the article:

Abdel-Majid Khoi, son of the late Grand Ayatollah Khoi, Iraq’s foremost religious leader for almost 40 years, and spoke of the “deep moral pain” he feels when hearing the so-called “ antiwar” discourse. “The Iraqi nation is like a man who is kept captive and tortured by a gang of thugs,” Khoi said. “The proper moral position is to fly to help that man liberate himself and bring the torturers to book. But what we witness in the West is the opposite: support for the torturers and total contempt for the victim.”

Khoi said he would say “ahlan wasahlan” (welcome) to anyone who would liberate Iraq.

“When you are being tortured to death you are not fussy about who will save you,” he said.