Barnes Blog
The Americans believe the produce market is also a black-market weapons bazaar. Guns, ammunition, and bomb-making supplies are smuggled into Mosul beneath piles of tomatoes, cauliflower, and other produce, then sold alongside the fruits and vegetables. Most of the men working in the market are hard-core supporters of Saddam Hussein who are skeptical of the American presence in Iraq.
After visiting the parsley seller, Kelly stopped at a cart of tomatoes and struck up a conversation with Ahmed Khidari. Khidari, speaking in Arabic that was translated by Kelly's interpreter, allowed that the security in Mosul was getting better and that the Americans were behaving better. But Khidari said the soldiers were still too aggressive.
"We want you guys to treat us well so that when you leave you are remembered well," he said.
"We only get aggressive when we get shot at," Kelly responded.
A minute later another man, Mohammed Khalif, approached the colonel. "I will tell you the way to make it safe," he said. "The coalition should get out of town and let the Iraqi police and Iraqi Army take over."
"That is going to happen soon," Kelly replied. "And I will get to go home, too."
After a back-and-forth about the guilt or innocence of Saddam, Khidari offered up another reason he resents the American presence in Iraq. "Before now there was no tension between Sunni and Shiite; now there is."
Khalif agreed. "The only thing we want the U.S. to do," he told Kelly, "is keep the country whole."
"The U.S. will not divide the country," Kelly said. "It is up to the government the Iraqi people vote for tomorrow."
"This government came with your troops backing it," Khalif said.
"We brought this government? No, we enabled it," Kelly said.
"America is a strong country," the man replied. "You could get rid of the new government if you wanted."
Kelly tried to convince the man that new democracies are not perfect and they take time to fix. The man said he was going to vote for Ayad Allawi, hoping he could bring security and jobs.
"Right now I have no work," Khalif said. "If I have nothing to do I will have to grab an RPG [rocket-propelled grenade] and shoot."
Kelly turned to his translator and said: "I hope he doesn't have to grab an RPG."
Realizing he might have said too much, the man started backtracking. "It is not me. I am just making an example. ... No one wants to use an RPG."
"Hopefully the vote will help," Kelly said.
As Kelly walked away, he said that despite Khalif's opposition to the American force, he took heart in the conversation.
"He was very open," he said. "That was encouraging."
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