I Feel Free

The whole liberation of Iraq thing seems to be going swimmingly. More here

"We suffered for years under Saddam Hussein, not being able to speak out," says Omar Fadhil, 24, a dentist. "Now, you can make your voice heard around the world."

I spoke with another Iraqi, also a former dentist, who asked to remain anonymous.

We met outside his makeshift dwelling, constructed mainly from cardboard and dried camel-shit. His five-bedroomed bungalow and dental surgery were destroyed by the off-target bunker-buster which also left a smoking crater where his swimming pool had been. Despite the dramatic change in his circumstances he is enthusiastic about the regime change.

"Obviously there are inconveniences, but they're pretty much outweighed by the benefits." he says cheerfully. "I can no longer make a living from dentistry, because no-one has any money to pay for treatment, and in any case when I lost my right arm in the bombing it pretty much put paid to my career." He laughs wryly. "But then if the war hadn't caused the complete collapse of our infrastructure then my daughter would still have been a Civil Servant earning two thousand dollars a month. In her new career as a prostitute she can make that in a couple of nights, and more on the days the troops get paid. And it's worked wonders for her language and drama skills - she can fake orgasm in seven different languages!"

With the money and energy the liberation forces are pumping into the Iraqi economy, for the one-armed ex-dentist and his family the future looks bright. " I used to hear so much on Baghdad Radio about the "land of opportunity" - I never thought it would land on my, errm, where my doorstep used to be."

He tries to shake hands, then remembers. We both laugh uproariously, and he punches me goodnaturedly on the arm with his stump. He slyly slides a couple of ten-dollar bills from his sleeping daughter's purse and heads in the direction of the nearest Cyber-Cafe, whistling a passable approximation of "The Star-Spangled Banner." (The Hendrix version.)