[lbo-talk] winning the hearts and minds, bakers excepted

[steve philion]

Although the prince admits having known Saddam Hussein - "He respected me
very much" - he said he had not seen the former president for many months.
"I have no idea why they came here. But if they want to find anybody in this
house they just have to knock on the door."

But while the prince was taking the raid calmly, elsewhere in Mansur it
provoked a reaction that was anything but. "We consider the Americans now as
war criminals," said Mahmoud al-Baghdadi, a 32-year-old baker. "They claim
to be fighting terrorism, but they cannot defend freedom by killing disabled
people."

Yaqdan Kadhem, a waiter, said that before he had felt sympathy for the
Americans, but now he supported the attacks on US troops. "Until now I was
against Saddam Hussein, but now I hate the Americans for what they did
yesterday."

The coalition refused to comment on events in Mansur, except to say the raid
had been carried out by Task Force 20.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1007694,00.html