Israel Matzav

Arab Commentators Accuse Washington Institute Researcher David Pollock of "Enjoying Drinking the Blood of Children" on Iranian TV

David Pollock, Middle East expert: I completely disagree with the previous speaker about the issue of what he calls the American occupation. These are forces of liberation that deposed a brutal, bloodthirsty dictator, named Saddam Hussein...

Sabah Jawad, Director of the Iraqi Democrats Against Occupation: You created something worse than Saddam Hussein.

David Pollock: ... with the help of the Iraqi people.

No, I think the Iraqi people – we know this for a fact – the Iraqi people believe that it is not worse today, that it is better today.

Sabah Jawad: This is a smack in the face of the truth, and history, and so on. The people who criticize Saddam Hussein now actually were allies of Saddam Hussein for 25 years. All the atrocities committed against the Iraqi people, and the Iranian people, and the people in the Middle East, in Kuwait, and other... Palestinians, and suddenly when Saddam committed these crimes, they were backed by this man and his government in the United States. So it is a bit rich, actually – coming now and saying: "We rescued Iraq from dictatorship and fascism," and they created a worse situation like this.

[...]

Thabet Salem, Syrian political analyst: The last thing I heard from Mr. Pollock, I think, really makes me feel... I don't know if I have to be sad or if I have to cry or to laugh. I doubt that he believes himself when he's saying that. He doesn't say the American forces in Iraq are occupation forces?! What have they brought to Iraq? They have brought nothing but death. Unless Mr. Pollock enjoys watching bloodshed, and drinking the blood of children. If that's the case, then they are not occupation. They are just nice, gentle... They have [done] nothing but give freedom, and peace, and food to the Iraqis.

[...]

David Pollock: I really am very sorry to hear the childish remarks of your other guests about me and about Iraq.

Thabet Salem: Your remarks are terrorist, Mr. David. You are a terrorist. I can call you a terrorist. I'm not [making] childish remarks. You enjoy watching blood being bled. You enjoy drinking blood. Don't say it's childish, Mr. Pollock. I know you. I know very well.

David Pollock: Yes, I think your audience can see what it is that I am referring to when I speak about childish remarks.

[...]

Sabah Jawad: I wonder whether your guest in America actually read any of the results of the polls conducted in Iraq, since the start of the occupation until now. Some of these polls are conducted by organizations which are not opposed to America. In fact, some of them are American. Public opinion polls – whether in Britain, BBC, and so on, and in America also – always come out with the result that the vast majority of the Iraqi people want this occupation to end – and they call it occupation. They don't call it liberation. It's only people in the White House – Cheney people and Bush people – who keep calling it liberation. If you ask any Iraqi... You say you've been to Iraq three times. I bet you never venture out of the Green Zone in Iraq, because if you go out of the Green Zone and you talk to people, you will realize straight away that this is an occupation that is not wanted by our people. The people on a daily basis are rejecting it and fighting against it, and until you leave... You will save your soldiers, and you'll save a lot of bloodshed, regarding the Iraqi people. You killed more than one million Iraqis, and these are not my figures. These are figures by international, reputable sources. They say you killed one million people. You made four or five million people homeless, internally and externally. You made five million widows. You made one million orphans in Iraq. And you still come to this studio with a smile on your face, and say this is liberation. Well, you can take your liberation and... stuff it.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:18 PM