One Iraqi family’s hope: security
December 31st, 1969Fatin Abid Muslim stirs a lump of lamb stewing on the stove. What does she want most for herself and her family? "Aman," is her one word response, meaning "security."
It's a word you hear a lot here now. She says she can deal with the hardship, the lack of water, electricity, and the rising prices -- but she's constantly fearful about her husband and five sons.
Her husband is a driver for a Baghdad hotel, a job that puts him constantly in harm's way. Streets are often blocked by militia checkpoints, car bombs targeting police and military vehicles.
It's not much better for her four children who still attend school. She says she shudders every time she hears the pop of gunfire or the rumble of a bomb -- daily occurrences here.
Shalaan Abdul Zahra, her husband, dismisses more American troops as the answer. "There are already more than 130,000 American soldiers here. And bringing in more tells the terrorists you're weak."
He suggests ramping up the training of Iraqi forces, so they can assume all security needs -- and "kick out the foreign fighters." What if more Americans come? "It will cost them more in lives and money," he said.
That’s just one opinion from the Iraqi Shiite street. Security may be the goal, but the means of achieving it remain agonizingly elusive.
