Imad Khadduri, the Iraqi physicist who escaped to Canada in 1998 and did everything he could to expose the Bush administration’s lies before the invasion, writes from Amman:
Yesterday, I received an Email from a friend citing a very touching obituary for a young Iraqi boy by the name of Ali who died of leukemia in his family’s self imposed exile in Jordan. It was written by one of his teachers and published in Al Rai newspaper.
I wrote back to my friend to express my sympathy and told him that I wonder how many Iraqi Alis are dying without a word said about them. I did not know then that only few hours later I would have my Ali to mourn.
Ali is the nephew of my wife…But he was much more than that to me. He was like my own son who kept my company for eight years in Baghdad when my own sons were away. He was indeed a son, a friend, assistant and a delight to be with…He was great in dealing with children and loved so much my granddaughter Mariam who in return loved him and wanted him to be around as much as she wanted her parents…
Ali was killed in Baghdad on Thursday, November 7 by the Americans or their protégés, the national guards who were manning a close check point…
Does anybody doubt that there isn’t a home in Iraq now which is not suffering the loss or injury of a loved one? When will this nightmare end? When will we regain our country and see the back of this occupation?
The rest is here.
For a few of Khadduri’s pre-war writings, see “Iraq’s Nuclear Non-Capability” (November 21, 2002) and “The Nuclear Bomb Hoax” (February 7, 2003).