FoxNews Iraqi-Americans Want to Fight Saddam
Tuesday, April 01, 2003
DEARBORN, Mich. � An initiative to recruit Iraqi exiles in the United States to help topple Saddam Hussein has been gaining support in Dearborn, Mich.
The Iraqi National Congress � a London-based umbrella group of various organizations opposing the Baghdad regime � is spearheading a project to assemble a pool of Iraqis to help coalition forces gain the trust of the country's people.
Emad Alkased of the Iraqi Youth Reunion � an educational group that wants to rebuild a post-Saddam Iraq � has been leading a recruiting drive in Dearborn, which has the largest ethnic Iraqi community of any U.S. city.
The drive is part of an all-out appeal to Iraqi-Americans who want to return to their homeland to help the U.S.-led coalition topple the dictatorship.
"I don't want American people to die for my country � I want me to be the first one," Alkased said. "I appreciate what American people are doing for my country, but I don't want them to spend their blood. I am ready to spend blood for my country."
Meetings are being held in Dearborn, where potential recruits fill out applications and give their address, date of birth, Social Security number and the name of the nearest airport.
Other Iraqi exiles are ready to shed their blood, too.
The Department of Defense has asked the Iraqi National Congress to find 250 volunteers who are willing to return to Iraq on 48 hours' notice.
U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz recently traveled to Dearborn to meet with hundreds of members of the city's Iraqi-American community.
"I heard one wrenching story after another about Saddam's systematic brutality," Wolfowitz said during a Friday press briefing at the State Department's Foreign Press Center.
The Pentagon has been training thousands of Saddam's opponents, including former Iraqi military officials, since last fall. President Bush gave the Pentagon $92 million for the program.
Tuesday, April 01, 2003
DEARBORN, Mich. � An initiative to recruit Iraqi exiles in the United States to help topple Saddam Hussein has been gaining support in Dearborn, Mich.
The Iraqi National Congress � a London-based umbrella group of various organizations opposing the Baghdad regime � is spearheading a project to assemble a pool of Iraqis to help coalition forces gain the trust of the country's people.
Emad Alkased of the Iraqi Youth Reunion � an educational group that wants to rebuild a post-Saddam Iraq � has been leading a recruiting drive in Dearborn, which has the largest ethnic Iraqi community of any U.S. city.
The drive is part of an all-out appeal to Iraqi-Americans who want to return to their homeland to help the U.S.-led coalition topple the dictatorship.
"I don't want American people to die for my country � I want me to be the first one," Alkased said. "I appreciate what American people are doing for my country, but I don't want them to spend their blood. I am ready to spend blood for my country."
Meetings are being held in Dearborn, where potential recruits fill out applications and give their address, date of birth, Social Security number and the name of the nearest airport.
Other Iraqi exiles are ready to shed their blood, too.
The Department of Defense has asked the Iraqi National Congress to find 250 volunteers who are willing to return to Iraq on 48 hours' notice.
U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz recently traveled to Dearborn to meet with hundreds of members of the city's Iraqi-American community.
"I heard one wrenching story after another about Saddam's systematic brutality," Wolfowitz said during a Friday press briefing at the State Department's Foreign Press Center.
The Pentagon has been training thousands of Saddam's opponents, including former Iraqi military officials, since last fall. President Bush gave the Pentagon $92 million for the program.
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