] When the Troops Are Away....
]
] After a short drive, we were in Safwan, the southern
] Iraqi town where residents danced in the streets last
] week as a U.S. Marine tore down a poster of Saddam
] Hussein.
]
] But on the day we were there %u2014 with no U.S. troops
] in sight %u2014 the atmosphere was very different. We
] learned that just because the townsfolk don't like
] Saddam, it doesn't mean they like the Americans for
] trying to take him out.
]
] The people were friendly to us at first, but then things
] got a little tense. They were angry at America, and said
] U.S. forces had shot at people in the town. They were
] also angry because they needed food, water and medicine
] and the aid promised by President Bush had not appeared.
]
] I realized that these people %u2014 after years of
] hearing anti-American propaganda and suffering under
] economic sanctions %u2014 had no reason in their personal
] experience to see Americans as the good guys. They asked
] us why the United States was taking over Iraq, and
] whether the Americans would stay in Iraq for ever.
]
] They saw the U.S.-led invasion as a takeover, not
] liberation.
]
] By the time we left, children were banging on our car
] windows, demanding money and food. They had already
] stolen some radios, a telephone and a camera from our
] cars. They weren't dancing in the streets.
]
] Casualties Close Up