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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -
Two Iraqi women active in starting a democratic
government in their nation thanked Arkansas soldiers
Monday and told an audience that insurgents were
acting in opposition to the will of the vast
majority of Iraqis.
Surood Ahmad of Kirkuk, Iraq, and Taghreed Al
Qaragholi of Baghdad addressed about 100 people,
including relatives of Army Spc. Kenneth Melton of
Batesville, who was killed April 25 in Iraq.
“God bless all of these American soldiers … these
liberators,” Al Qaragholi said, looking toward
Melton’s family.
“I know ‘thank you’ is not enough,” she said,
starting to cry. “I don’t have the words.”
She said that when she saw the now-celebrated
television broadcast of a statue of Saddam Hussein
being pulled down, she went outside and “touched the
trees, just to make sure it wasn’t a dream.”
Al Qaragholi said her greatest concern was that Iraq
establishes a free government. She recalled that a
person at an appearance in Boston counseled her that
the United States was only in Iraq for its oil.
“I said, ‘Welcome,” she said.
Al Qaragholi said access to the oil does not matter
because the average Iraqi didn’t benefit under
Saddam from living in an oil-rich nation.
The women were brought in by the Iraq-America
Freedom Alliance, which is part of the Foundation of
Defense for Democracies. The group lists
conservatives Steve Forbes, Jack Kemp and Jeanne
Kirkpatrick as its directors but includes Democrats
and Republicans among its advisers.
Ahmad, a Kurd, said she is preparing to return to
her hometown to help build a government in a city
with different ethnicities. She said that during her
seven-week visit to the United States, some people
have apologized for the tumult that is now consuming
Iraq. Ahmad said people who have died in the war
have died for a purpose.
Regarding weekend protests in New York City in
advance of the Republican National Convention, Ahmad
said she didn’t bristle at demonstrations against a
war she supports.
“I like the democracy,” she said. “We want to build
that in our home.”
Ahmad told a hushed audience that she was with
family members and neighbors in a car that was
attacked by a helicopter flown by Saddam’s forces
during the 1991 Kurdish rebellion after the Gulf
War. Six people were killed, including three
relatives, and Ahmad was wounded in two places.
Ahmad said her father was hauled off and shot.
Now, for the first time, she is “not afraid to be a
Kurd in Kirkuk.”
After her talk, Ahmad hugged Melton’s widow, Carol.
Carol Melton said it was helpful to see first-hand
the Iraqi women and hear their appreciation for the
efforts of the soldiers.
Americans don’t understand that the insurgents don’t
have the backing of the majority of Iraqis, Al
Qaragholi said. Most are glad the war happened.
She noted that the United States needed time to
organize its democracy more than 200 years ago and
that success will not come instantly to Iraq.
“We need time,” she said.
Upon her return, Ahmad plans to train women how to
participate in a democratic government. Al Qaragholi
is active in the Iraqi Independent Women’s Group.
One of the group’s members is a minister in the new
Iraqi government and the group also includes several
deputy ministers.
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