by scotsman 2 Replies latest social current
As so many have pretty strong convictions about Irag and the state of the Middle East I was wondering if anyone had spent any time there. I'm not suggesting that this is necessary to have an opinion on the current war.
And cruising down the Nile, or day trips from Cyprus don't count!
I never visited.
My mother married an Iraqi refugee in 1982. He told of terrible atrocities; that is why he came to the USA. He then brought his whole family over. His mother, sister, brother-in-law, cousins, the whole group.
He was a "christian"....what ever that meant to him. He beat the crap out of my mother for two years, wanted her to support him, yet not work (she is not a Hilton), and bear children. She was 40, he was 30.
Regardless, I got first hand information on Iraq. The problems with Iran were still in the national psyche, so Iraq got little attention. I was in college and had a class called "Middle Eastern Studies". The prof met with my step father to get information on Iraq he could teach the class.
Zaia, my step-father, told of torture and beatings if young men (his age) did not join the army or the Baath party. Since we were JWs, not joining a political party seemed logical and a reason to leave.
Until the Gulf War, I never really thought about what he and his family went through. They fled Iraq through Turkey.
Interesting stuff Teenyuck, and also interesting that
The problems with Iran were still in the national psyche, so Iraq got little attention
A bit like the Irag centered attention at present and our blinkers to other countries.
Anyone else even been to a Middle Eastern country?
