UDM student recalls fear, terror of life in Iraq

Before coming to America, UDM sophomore Faddi Salim lived in the middle of the Iraq War.
Salim was in Baghdad when the war began in 2003. While in Iraq, he lived through the reign of a dictator and terrorist attacks - and was even held briefly at an American army base.
Salim, 20, was driving with a friend when their car broke down in the desert. Unable to see signs of civilization, they began to walk the terrain. Soon, the two noticed a big, gated area and decided to go there to ask for directions.
"As soon as we hit the camp, there was this yelling," said Salim.
Large spotlights glared on them.
They were commanded to get on the ground. Salim and his friend followed the faceless voice's directions.
When Salim spotted an American flag, he instantly realized where he was - at a U.S. army base. He was scared when first questioned, but the soldiers realized Salim and his friend were not a threat and let them go.
The American soldiers were "so nice when they came to Iraq," he said. Only when the terrorists began disguising themselves as civilians and strapping bombs to themselves, did the soldiers' attitudes change, according to Salim. He said they became less friendly and more scared.
Salim does not have an issue with American and coalition forces coming to Iraq, and he dislikes the terrorist groups.
In 2004, one of them took over his neighborhood. "We could not even leave our home," he said.
The terrorists travelled in groups of seven to ten and patrolled the streets, he said. They would not let anybody leave even to buy food, according to Salim.-
"Some people died," he said, "because they were starving." After a couple of weeks, the American army drove the terrorists out of the neighborhood, he said.
Prior to the coalition invasion, Saddam Hussein's rule was so strict that people of Iraq were not allowed the simplest of technologies, said Salim, who said Hussein wanted complete domination over everything in Iraq.
Salim said that there was no cable television, only local channels. The Iraqis were not even allowed to have cell phones, he said.
The country "has developed after the war," said Salim.
Since the invasion, Iraq has not only developed newer technologies but healthcare has also improved, he said. During Hussein's reign, according to Salim, there were not enough hospitals or medicine for the sick. Now, with Hussein dead (and out of power), Iraqis have more hospitals and have been able to obtain medications, he said.
Salim has strong views about Iraq, Hussein and Al-Qaeda.
For a speech class, Salim did research on a 1993 attack on the World Trade Center by terrorists with ties to Al-Qaeda. The terrorists detonated a car bomb in the parking structure beneath the north tower, hoping it would topple onto the south tower. It did not, but it caused massive damage and killed six people and injured more than a thousand.
"If we took those threats seriously, we could have prevented 9/11," Salim believes.
In 2005, with the war still raging, Salim and his family left Iraq. At UDM, he is a pre-dental student. He hopes to become a dentist in America.