D r. Ahmed l'Duleimi, 33, was born and raised in Fallujah, Iraq, but left his homeland in December 2003. He went from Amman, Jordan to Damascus, Syria, where I met him in September 2005. The interview was translated by Lebanese journalist Nahed Al Husssaini.

Dr. l'Duleimi is an economics professor, and has turned to news writing to make a living as a refugee. He claimed to have depleted uranium poisoning, and while his symptoms sound like DU, I have been unable to confirm that the patterns of blotches on his skin in the photos resulted from DU poisoning. I didn't ask to see his under his long sleeve shirt, as it would have been considered rude.

Depleted uranium is a dense, low-level radioactive metal commonly used in American munitions. DU oxidizes and burns skin on impact. When rounds miss flesh and hit elsewhere, they create radioactive dust particles that people may breath in or drink in water. The long-term effects of DU poisoning are unknown, but many consider that the so-called Gulf War Syndrome may be from DU.

Dr. l'Duleimi also claimed that he was treated by Christian Peacemaker Teams in Jordan, but that group said it does not offer medical treatment. l'Duleimi also thanked the Pope for his medical treatment, so I suspect that his view of Christianity might be as skewed as an average American's view of Islam.

That being said, I think that his opinions are worth reading, simply because the average Iraqi's voice has been so marginalized by this war.

Why did you come to Syria?: I came to Syria because Americans bombed my house and three of my brothers were killed.
How old were your brothers and what were their names?: Abdul Karim was 40, Abdul Rahman was 45 and Abdul Khalk was 55.
Where were you at the time of the bombing?: I was out of the house, I was evacuating the woman. The Americans were bombing Golan Square. We were in Golan Square in Fallujah. They started bombing without differentiating between houses with people from the resistance and the houses where there were no people in the resistance. It was an arbitrary bombing run. They were beseiging the whole area.
Describe an arbitrary bombing.: It was non-stop. They were throwing light bombs.
Cluster bombs?: No, it is not a cluster bombs. It goes through the ground.
How long was it going on for? Days?: Days. It was non-stop. but they couldn't occupy Fallujah. They were accompanied by Peshmerga, the Badr Brigade and the National Guard.
How do you feel about America right now?: Nobody likes Iraq in America. 90 percent of the Iraqi people do not like America. I think that America is going to lose the war because America is fighting phantoms right now. They don't know Iraq's customs and the traditions of Iraq. The people who are sympathizing with the United States are only the Kurds in the north. Even the Shiites in the South are not siding with the Americans.; The popularity of the United States is going down tremendously. They have lied to the Iraqi people. They have spoken about so many projects but they have not implemented one. They have stolen and they have robbed, looted the wealth of Iraq. And now we ended with what we call factionalism in Iraq. Two parties have benefited from the toppling of Saddam Hussein: Al Qaida and Iran. Zarqawi and Iran.
How do you feel about Al Qaida, Zarqawi and Osama bin Laden?: Al Qaida is the United States. Zarqawi is the United States and Iran. Whenever Zarqawi is beseiged by the Sunni tribes, some helicopters come and take them. We believe they are CIA who are taking them. One of Zarqawi's legs has been amputated. He was in a house, and suddenly a helicopter came and took him and put him on the plane. We think it is the CIA. Zarqawi is now in a city called Ilam, which is close to the Iranian border. Zarqawi is in the Iranian National Guard.
Why do you think Iran and the CIA might be cooperating?: The United States of America is just bombing any city in Iraq under the pretext that Zarqawi is there. When they invade the city, Zarqawi is not there anyway. They are using him as a bait, a pretext, a ploy.
Can you describe what life was like before Saddam invaded Kuwait?: It was a very good life, a cheap life. We were living in peace and security.
Did the Iran-Iraq war affect you at all?: No.
Did the first Gulf War impact your life?: If you are talking about the economic seige, it affected all the people in Iraq, especially the farmers. Most of my family are farmers.
How did you decide to be a doctor?: Fallujah has a lot of educated people in all kinds of disciplines. We have a lot of people who are specialized in many things. I completed my study at the expense of Saddam Hussein because my father was a marytr in the 1973 October War. I never met my father, he died when I was very young. My specialty is economic politics.
Describe to me what you witnessed as the economic realities of the sanctions?: Life was very expensive at that time because of the economic sanctions. But I would like to tell you that we were livintg in security and peace and we had employment. Iraqi dinars were going depreciating in comparison to the dollar. Everything was fine because we had peace and security. Since 1996, the situation had gotten better.
I'm familiar with scenes of malnutrition and other problems because of the sanctions. Have you seen that?: Chemical rays.
Depleted uranium?: From the first Gulf War.
Fallujah wasn't in the southern no-fly zone.: They were not included, so we weren't bombed like in Basra.
What happened in Fallujah in March of 2003?: At the beginning we have received the Americans and welcomed the Americans. We were ready to give them Fallujah and Al-Anbar. But what happened later, they started insulting the women and violating our traditions and customs. Then after that we have started the resistance.
What do you mean by insulting the woman and violating customs and traditions?: Women used to wear a veil, and whenever they saw a woman, they forced her to take off the veil and they asked her husband to lay down and they stood on him. We had informed the US officer about this, and they had not taken any proceedures to avert this kind of abuse.
How long did this go on?: A few months. Let alone the invasions of the mosques.
Do you know members of the armed resistance and how did it form?: Nobody knows anything about these people because they are in disguise. They are faceless, nobody knows their faces. There are many living in the desert, they move from one place to another. You don't know their movement. It is very difficult to trace them.
How long ago did you get uranium sickness?: April 2003. We were transporting the injured people from the hospital to the airport, and there we were bombed by the Americans. We were in the street when we were bombed.
You have red blotches all over your skin? What are the other physical, day to day realities of uranium poisoning?: I cannot marry because I cannot have kids. I have stained blood.
What other symptoms do you show?: I get high fever, I vomit from time to time. Sometimes I have low blood pressure.
How many people do you know suffering from depleted uranium?: Many cases are worse than mine, and I have a pictures of them. The best scenario in my opinion is for the U.S. to negotiate with the resistance and to dispose Iraq of the Iranian influence.
How long do you expect to live with this condition?: Long enough to see my Iraq liberated from the Americans.
Shia or Sunni?: Sunni
What do you think of Shia like Moqtada al-Sadr?: He is very popular leader who has a large base in Iraq. I believe he is going to be the popular reference in Iraq in the future. About one week ago, about 100,000 people who are loyal to Moqtada Al-Sadr took the streets in a demonstration, while only 500 people loyal to Abdul Aziz al Hakim took the streeets. So if you compare the two numbers, it is a big difference. Moqtada al-Sadr has a base of 3 million people. Moqtada al-Sadr is a new Hassan Nasrallah in Iraq.
And Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani?: He is like an idol.
Sistani does not play into political discussions?: Sistani is Iranian. He is an ayatollah. Sistani is like an idol inside the Qabba.
You and al-Sadr are the same age?: I respect him a lot. He does not differentiate between the Shia and the Sunni.
Why do you think the U.S. is placing so much weight on the difference between Shia and Sunni?: It is a winning part for the U.S. It is exactly what Britain did in 1921.
So Shia and Sunni are both welcome at Moqtada al-Sadr's mosques?: Exactly. They are welcome there. al-Sadr has sent fighters to Fallajuh to fight with the Sunni. And the Sunni have sent fighters to Najaf to fight with the Shia.
What kind of end do you see to this conflict?: America is going to lose heavily.
How long will it take?: 2007 is the decisive year in my opinion.
Why?: Because the U.S. soldiers are escaping Iraq. The Iraqi tribes are helping them go from Iraq to Jordan.
U.S. soldiers are deserting?: Yes.
How do you know this?: We have seen many cases where they are giving up arms, not obeying the orders and deserting.
Where could we find some of these people?: Inside Iraq. Some of the American officers are selling intelligence to the resistance because they don't believe in the justice of their cause. They are doing that. They are cooperating with the resistance.
Are you married?: My mother is Syrian.
Who are you in Syria with?: Relatives.
What is life as a refugee like?: It is a difficult life.
How are you supporting yourself?: I am writing for newspapers, but my salary is not enough. My salary was very high when I used to teach at the University. My father was a martyr and they were giving me a lot of money.
The American press said for years that Saddam oppressed the Shia majority, do you think that was true, and if it was, how does it affect: He was a dictator, he was doing misjustice not just to the Shiites, but to the Sunnis. He used to give amnesty for all crimes but not for political crimes.
How do you feel about the capture of Saddam? Was it real?: It was Saddam 100 percent. Now you find that the violence is increasing. It is not for Saddam Hussein. The people are fighting to get rid of the Americans. They are not fighting for Saddam or to get Saddam out of jail. The popularity of Saddam is soaring, increasing, because the people are starting to compare between the current situation and the situation which was prevalent in the era of Saddam, and there is a huge difference. And Saddam is not an agent of the United States anyway. The current government is affiliated with Iran. They are evacuating the Shia, the Sunni, and the Christian. They have closed the hairdressing shops, the music shops. They are killing teachers, professors at the universites, academic people. They have looted the ruins.
Jafari il-Abrahim is affiliated with the Iranians.: Yes. Any female employee canot go into her work without wearing a headscarf. This was not prevalent under Saddam Hussein.
What are the chances for democracy in Iraq?: I don't believe that there is democracy in Iraq right now because any guy who lambastes the government or criticizes the government right now, he is killed. They have so many parties, this is true, but this is not democracy. You cannot say what you want to say in Iraq. If you say the wrong thing, they kill you. They shoot off straightaway.
How do you define democracy?: Right now we have a religious democracy, a fundamentalist religious fanatic democracy. We used to have secular democracy when Saddam Hussein was in power.
What is democracy in practice?: Democracy cannot succeed in Iraq and cannot succeed in the Arab world. It was born dead.
Why can't it succeed in the Arab world?: It has to do with the nature of this society. We are not used to this kind of democracy.
I want to make sure we are all on the same page. What do you think democracy is?: Democracy is opening up, accepting others opinions, having political freedom, but this is not available in Iraq right now.
What were you taught about democracy in school?: Mainly, we were taught about freedom of expression.
Did this exist under Saddam?: You can criticize any official in the Iraqi government except Saddam Hussein, like in any Arab country.
How do you feel about me interviewing you right now?: We don't have problems with the American people, we have problems with the American administration. I was treated by an American physician. The Americans are our friends, not the American administration. I would like to thank the Vatican and the Pope for helping me and offering help to the Sunni of Fallujah.
What happened in the bombing of Fallujah in November 2004?: Fallujah was invaded twice by the Americans. The second invasion was successful. And now Fallujah is being reconstructed. This government will fail because we don't have the basic services like water, electricity and infrastructure. When Allawi was in power, at least he had forty percent of these services working. Now we have none.
How many people do you think died in the the November bombing?: Not less than 3,000 people. People are dying now because we have poisonous water and we don't have electricity.
In your utopian vision, what would you love to see happen in Iraq?: I'd like to see the Iraqi people living in peace and security. We want the regime to be secular not religious. This will not be achieved unless Allawi is coming back to power, because we believe that Allawi is another Saddam Hussein. He is very ruthless. He is very strong but with a democratic face.
Many people think Allawi is a puppet of the CIA.: It is true he is a puppet to the CIA. He is a puppet to other European security services as well. But the guy has a national feeling. He a nationalistic feeling so it doesn't matter, and he is the best among what is really available now.
How many Iraqi refugees are here in Syria.: 600,000 in all provinces.
How many do you personally?: Not so many.
Have you been back to Fallujah since you came here?: Yes I have been back since the invasion. The city is very sad and very gloomy. It is not just the Americans who are doing the busting. It is Peshmerga and the Badr Brigade doing the busting, too. These people must leave Fallujah and leave the people in peace.
When did you return?: November 2004 after the second seige.
What percentage of the city is still standing? Fallujah was a city of 300,000, how many are left?: Not more than 100,000.
How do you deal with your anger?: By writing. This is my weapon, my writing. I publish articles in newspapers incriminating the U.S. I try to get documents and information which incriminates the U.S. The Americans are burying their soldiers in the desert in Fallujah. Why don't they take the bodies home? Because they don't want to tell people that their soldiers are being killed. Me I have just published something in the newspapers about the massive cemetaries.
Did you feel safe when you went back to Fallujah?: No.
Why not?: You never know when you are going to be busted by the Peshmerga. Looting is not evident.
What role do you think Israel plays in all this?: The Israelis are in Kirkuk, Kurdistan and Bebaylem.
Why are they there?: They have political ambitions there. We used to have a lot of Iraqi Jews living in Iraq. They are trying to regain their lands.
What do you think when you hear that Israeli schoolbooks proclaim that Israel should stretch from the Euphrates to the Nile?: We have no qualm with the Iraqi Jews. They can come back to their properties. We don't want the Israeli Jews. The Iraqi Jews are in Fallujah, in Hadithah. They are in many places.
How do you think the American people can get rid of George Bush?: Kill him like Kennedy.
What if the CIA did that?: It is much better if the CIA kills him because John Kerry is much better than George Bush.
I was convinced that whether Bush or Kerry won, the second seige of Fallujah would have happened. Do you agree?: No. Kerry was calling for the withdrawal of American forces to the bases from the Sunni bases.
I think Kerry would have bombed Fallujah. How closely were you following the American election.: The American forces were afraid that Bush would fail. But in the end, Bush did win. Their destiny is connected to Bush. The people who supported Bush have been appointed to key positions in the US. This is political stupidity. Like in New Orleans. Bush took all the money allocated for disaster emergency and spent it on Iraq. How dare he do that! This money was allocated for relief. How could he control Iraqi society yet he could not control what happened in New Orleans?
What did you think of America as a child?: We used to have a lot of American goods on the streets. At that time we did not hate the United States. We were average, 50-50. Now the situation is different.
Did you ever dream of visiting the United States?: No, I don't want to visit not because I hate the U.S., but I like to live in Arab countries. If I ever visit the United States, one of these days, I will give a lecture explaining where the U.S. was right, where it was wrong, the misgivings, merits and demerits of America.
What is the best case scenario for U.S. withdrawal?: The best way for the U.S. is to pull out gradually from iraq, to give security to the people of the areas, not just to Peshemrga and the Badr Brigade, to the people living in the Sunni areas, the Shia areas and the Kurdish areas.
A loose federalism seems to be developing between an independent Kurdistan in the North, and independent Shia south and an independent Sunni central area. What do you make of this?: This is not a sound federalism - because in the Kurdish areas, the Kurds will be controlling, the Kurds have the upper hand. In the Shia areas, the mullahs will have the upper hand and we will go back to dictatorship, and we will go back to central rule. This is not federalism. We cannot apply democracy when the religious parties are asking the communists to become religious - How?
If democracy cannot exist in the Arab world as you say, what is the ideal government in the Arab world?: America has two choices, either to change the Arab leaders or to limit their powers so in order to let the people move, and to relinquish their support to Israel. Because now Islamists are on the increase.
Do you think America should be meddling in the affairs of other countries?: They shouldn't be interfering in the affairs of others.Why do you want to kill Chavez, for example? This is not democracy, this is the education of death. Bush and the United States will succeed in the Arab world if they don't follow the dictats of the Jewish lobby.
Do you have anything to say I haven't asked.: America is in a very crucial situation. If the United States of America contemplated a strike against Iran, the American soldiers will be extinguished from Iraq, will be uprooted from Iraq. The more the U.S. puts pressure on Iran, the more the resistance will escalate that is why Iran is dealing with Zarqawi, as a bargaining chip. This will not lead to democracy in iraq, this will lead to disturbance and chaos.
Who are the leaders the U.S. should be negotiating with?: Tribal chiefs, officers in the Baath party, officers in the Baath army. These people are very well known to Allawi.
What do you think of the secular Baathist philosophy of pan-Arab unity?: Right now I am not talking about the Arab nation. I am not talking about Palestine, I am talking about the nationalist slogan. The Baath party must participate in the elections.
Are you a member of the Baath party?: Yes. I am not a leader, I am a normal member. If you are not a member of the Baath party you cannot be a professor in the University. I have been dismissed from service because I was a member of the Baath party.
Do you think that the International Criminal Court should prosecute Bush for war crimes?: Yes. Kissinger is an important man who should be tried for advocating the idea of partitioning Iraq.
What are the chances of this happening?: I feel very strongly that Bush will be tried, after the end of his second term of his presidency.

4/5/06

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Dr. Ahmed l'Duleimi alleged depleted uranium poisoning

Dr. Ahmed l’Duleimi's alleged depleted uranium poisoning. Research has been unable to confirm that these patterns of blotches represent DU poisoning, but Dr. l'Duleimi's symptoms seem consistent with DU poisoning.

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