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=> Kanna

Posted by parhad (Guest) - Wednesday, May 5 2004, 3:49:21 (CEST)
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...he already has his nest feathered in Geneva or somewhere else...no way he`s going to stay in Iraq a day after the Americans leave...but the rest will be stuck there....

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Sign bashing president shocks Assyrian visitor *PIC*

Posted By: Johnny Michael (host217-34-228-117.in-addr.btopenworld.com)
Date: Tuesday, 4 May 2004, at 5:38 p.m.

Dear All,

Article in Modesto Bee (2nd May 2004), to view click the link: http://www.modbee.com/local/story/8516884p-9362003c.html

Sign bashing president shocks Assyrian visitor

BY CHRIS TOGNERI
BEE STAFF WRITER

Last Updated: May 2, 2004, 08:52:49 AM PDT

Walking through Dulles International Airport on Saturday, Younadam Kanna, the leader of the Assyrian Democratic Movement political party in Iraq, saw a sticker on a newsstand that read:
Bush is the Butcher of Baghdad.

Later that day, moments before delivering a speech to Assyrian-Americans in Modesto, he said he still was astonished by the sticker.

"I could not believe what I read," he said. "To us in Iraq, he is not a butcher. He is a savior. Yes, maybe he is a butcher to terrorists, but we appreciate that."

Kanna, the only Christian representative on the temporary 25-member Iraqi Governing Council, arrived in the United States on April 23 to discuss the future of Iraq with White House officials and different Iraqi communities across the country.

After Modesto, his itinerary includes stops in other areas with large Assyrian populations, including San Jose and Los Angeles, plus towns in Ari-zona and Michigan.

He's no stranger to the Central Valley, having visited at least twice before during trips to the United States, including one on Sept. 11, 2001.

Assyrians are a small minor-ity in largely Muslim Iraq. In recent years, most Assyrian immigrants to the valley have come from Iraq, though past waves have come from Iran and other countries.

Kanna said a secondary aim of his current U.S. trip is to counter "misleading" media coverage of the war in Iraq.

"The media is exaggerating only the negative side," he said. "Ninety percent of the new Iraq is good. Ten percent is bad. But the media only focuses on the problems. Where are the stories of our new life, of our liberation, of our freedom?"

Kanna said that in Iraq, much has changed — for the better — since Saddam Hussein was toppled from power.

"The vast majority of Iraqi people are happy that Saddam is gone," he said. "We have a normal life now. In Baghdad, there are over 300 free newspapers and magazines. We have free radio, TV. The schools are opening again, the hospitals and other services are back also."

But the media only focuses on "problems in isolated spots caused by foreign terrorists," Kanna said.

"The media is trying to sell a product," he said, "so they do not speak of anything but conflicts. That is not right."

Kanna also addressed the need for American media to cover U.S. fatalities in Iraq.

"We appreciate the losses and sacrifices of the soldiers who have died there," he said. "In one year, 700 American soldiers, and we will never forget them. But, we have to also remember that 3,000 people were killed in two minutes at the World Trade Center."

Charles Givargis, leader of the Modesto Chapter of the Assyrian Democratic Movement, said he hopes American support for a free Iraq will not waver.

"Democracy is not something that takes place overnight," he said. "It takes education. It takes feeling, touching, tasting democracy. These people knew nothing about democracy, except what they could only read about it."

Kanna, meanwhile, said he still is dismayed by the idea that Americans' support for Bush could waver.

"Bush is a hero in Iraq — he brought freedom to our country," he said. "Yes, (Osama) bin Laden thinks Bush is a butcher. But Americans think so, too? It is a tragedy to think that some Americans share viewpoints with a terrorist like bin Laden."

Younadam Kanna is greeted by John Lazar and other leaders as well as the Assyrian community at Yosemite Banquet Hall in Modesto.
DEBBIE NODA/THE BEE

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