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BAGHDAD
Images of hate are left in tough neighborhood
By Brian MacQuarrie, Globe Staff, 4/13/2003
The sprawling training center for the Quds Regiment, the Iraqi equivalent of the US National Guard, had other evidence of the vitriolic hatred that Hussein reserves for his enemies. In an indoor shooting range, paper targets showed drawings of a human face, fangs protruding from the mouth, a Star of David on the forehead. Outside, on the fringes of the parade ground, other targets had been painted on posts. This time, some of the images were of children. Blount watched in silence, waving his hand dismissively at the mural when a reporter questioned him about this depiction of glee at an American tragedy. Blount offered no stock expressions of anger. "We've still got some fighting to do," said Blount. "It's still a tough neighborhood here." Baghdad remains dangerous for US troops. The four Marines wounded by a suicide bomber here Wednesday, and the Third Infantry soldier who died later that night when a truck-bomb exploded, are lethal testimony to that. But less than 100 yards from where Blount stood, other evidence gave compelling weight to the sense that most Baghdad residents welcome the American presence. "We thank God for your troops," said Safa Abed, 29, as he stopped his bicycle to talk. "We hurt a lot before, and now we have freedom." But as the Quds facility showed, along with the continuing gunfire on Baghdad's streets, this ancient capital is still a tough neighborhood.
This story ran on page A39 of the Boston Globe on 4/13/2003.
ajor General Buford ''Buff'' Blount, commander of the Third Infantry Division, stood in the middle of a dusty parade ground yesterday at a militia training center, billows of black smoke rising behind him from yet another destroyed target of Iraqi resistance. As Blount watched, his soldiers unfurled a large mural they had discovered at the facility. There, in vibrant hues, a beaming image of Saddam Hussein, victory cigar in hand, had been painted beside a rendering of the World Trade Center at the awful moment of attack. ''God protect Saddam and Iraq,'' the artist inscribed in Arabic.
© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.
