"Tell the American human beings to help Iraq,'' Kshaish said. "Not the soldiers, not the government -- we do not believe in them. We believe in the people who are behind them, the human beings of America.
"And Iraqis need their help."http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=caple/040825Iraqis, First and Foremost
By Jim Caple
Page 2THESSANOLIKI, Greece -- Now, there's a dateline you don't see everyday: Thessanoliki, Greece. In fact, I had never even heard of the place until I looked at the Olympics schedule and learned that it was the site of the semifinal soccer game between Iraq and Paraguay.
Iraq, naturally, became the cause celebre of these Olympics with its stunning success in the qualifying round. Even President Bush referenced the team on the campaign trail. Despite almost unimaginable hardships -- in addition to facing torture from the late Uday Hussein during his father's dictatorial reign, they don't have any Nike contracts -- the Iraqis won three of four games to advance to the medal round and set up a must-see game here against Paraguay.
The Iraqi exiles living in Athens, however, don't have the luxury of an expense account. They took an eight-hour bus ride to root on their team -- which sounds like a long trip, but at least it was better than their trip to a game in Crete over the weekend. Between the bus and the ferry, that one took 15 hours.
"We were so tired when we got back from Crete. But we walked five kilometers, anyway, to celebrate the victory,'' Arkan Sabah said through an interpreter. "This team made the people of Iraq feel happy. It made Iraqis feel joy for the first time since the war -- since before the war. Since the 1980s, we have no joy in Iraq, only killing and bombing.
EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
