Before the horrible body count of today’s attacks emerged, ordinary Iraqis expressed a variety of opinions, some sympathetic, some not, about the attack at Virginia Tech. Many of the people interviewed by NEWSWEEK had mixed feelings. “I feel sorry that there are innocent civilians getting killed for no reason. We in Iraq have tasted this curse and we know how difficult it is to lose a loved one,” says Khalid Mohammed, a 33-year old civil engineer. “At other times, especially when I’m emotional, I think, ‘Let the American people get a taste of what they brought us, death and tragedies and blood everywhere.’ To be honest I feel sorry for them more than feeling the other way around.” Others reactions were more bitter. “It is a big loss for the American people and I think that this is a message from Allah to them to stop and think of what is happening in Iraq,” says Haifa Salim, a 34-year old housewife. “Thousands of Iraqis lost their sons or fathers and all of this was because of the so-called American democracy being exported to Third World countries.”
Violence at universities isn’t new to Iraq; many campuses have been targeted since 2003. Last January, at least 70 people were killed in a double bombing at Mustansariya University in Baghdad. Students and university professors are also frequently threatened and kidnapped by sectarian militias. Today’s attacks also appeared sectarian in nature: most of the bombs went off in Shiite districts, including Sadr City. One car bomb at the Sadriya market killed more than 120 people.
This attack, coming less than a week after a suicide bomber hit the Iraqi parliament, is sure to make many Iraqis wonder what exactly the government is achieving with their new security plan.
In today’s interviews, Iraqis criticized the U.S. government more than their own. “I think the Bush administration is only a little bit better than [Cho-Seung Hui],” says Abu Ali, a retired military officer. “At least [the Bush administration] is letting its anger out in Iraq and Afghanistan instead of the U.S.” And some reactions were ugly. “We’ve always heard Bush say the Islamic radicals are a threat to America’s national security,” says Aws Kamil, a 31-year-old doctor. “Now, it’s their own terrorists that are killing them. Let people say I’m a bad person but I did feel good when this happened in their own country.”
Some Iraqis are puzzled by these extreme reactions. “My mother was so touched [by the Virginia Tech shooting] that I could swear she shed a tear when we saw this on the news. I think it makes Iraqis sad to see such brutal acts anywhere in the world. I can’t even imagine that someone would find this a payback for the American people,” says Thair Sami, a 36-year-old dentist. “It’s sad that people even in a place like the United States can’t find a way other than violence to solve problems. Which actually makes me very pessimistic. If this is how people solve their problems in the U.S. then so much for the national reconciliation in Iraq.”
