[Dean's World] Dave Schuler: The Ba'athist Penny Turns Up

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Posted by Dave Schuler:
The Ba'athist Penny Turns Up
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1193161254.shtml


   As I was working on the (soon to be forthcoming) Carnival of the
   Liberated this morning I decided that Riverbend's [1]most recent post
   deserved a little comment although my general policy of avoiding
   linking to ex-pats in the CotL precludes linking to it there.

   Riverbend has emerged from her hole in the other Ba'athist country and
   posted again. I'm sure she finds Syria a fine fit: thuggish
   authoritarian regime, [2]active chemical weapons program, [3]abuse of
   ethnic minorities.

   Despite these cozy amenities she's still nostalgic for the good ol'
   days under Saddam Hussein:

     The first evening we arrived, exhausted, dragging suitcases behind
     us, morale a little bit bruised, the Kurdish family sent over their
     representative â a 9 year old boy missing two front teeth, holding
     a lopsided cake, âWeâre Abu Mohammedâs house- across from you- mama
     says if you need anything, just ask- this is our number. Abu
     Daliaâs family live upstairs, this is their number. Weâre all Iraqi
     too... Welcome to the building.â

     I cried that night because for the first time in a long time, so
     far away from home, I felt the unity that had been stolen from us
     in 2003.

References

   1. http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/2007_10_01_riverbendblog_archive.html#3939951753835220137#3939951753835220137
   2. http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/syria/cw.htm
   3. http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/12/31/news/syria.php