BAGHDAD, 11 April 2003 — Talal, who once dreamed of being a hero of the Arab resistance, had a rude awakening yesterday when he opened his eyes to the sight of the same US Marines he had been fighting for weeks watching over him.
After a night under the stars on the front lawn of the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad, cordoned off by Marine tanks, the young Syrian lifted himself to rest on the palms of his hands, just returning their gaze.
And that is all he could do after having regretfully handed back his gun on Wednesday at the sight of US troops in full battle gear rolling their mighty tanks and gigantic amphibious assault vehicles right into the heart of Baghdad.
The skinny, but resilient Syrian is one of thousands of Arabs who volunteered to fight in Iraqi ranks against the US-British military coalition to topple President Saddam Hussein.
The Arab fighters contributed to some of the fiercest battles of resistance in trenches across the country and led daring counter-offensives, including relentless attacks on US troops controlling Baghdad airport.
When asked if he knew who the men sleeping on the lawn were, a US Marine just responded: “No, are they Iraqi?”
And when told about their identities, he said: “They provided the strongest resistance we have seen and we killed a lot of them.”
“But it is alright now. It is all over,” said the Marine who did not wish to reveal his identity.
Talal and the 20 other Arab combatants who slept on the grass without covers were mostly bitter at Baghdad’s spectacular fall without little fight from the Iraqis themselves. “This is a black day in the history of the Arabs, a black day in the history of the Muslims. We have reached the abyss,” he said.
“We came here because we all believed that we should rally to the defense of Baghdad, the fortress of the Arab and Muslim world standing strong against the American-Zionist imperialist expansion,” he said.
Talal and his former comrades-in-arms were still stunned by the way the Iraqi forces took their light arms from them yesterday, he said, and told them: “The war is over, just go home. We still do not understand what exactly happened.”
“In the last two days, the Arab fighters were practically the only organized groups fighting real battles in Baghdad and sometimes we felt like we were just being sent to our deaths,” said another Jordanian combatant.
But today, the Arab fighters have no checkered headdresses, no rocket launchers in their hands, no fierce looks on their faces. All they have are the T-shirts they are wearing and impatience to find taxis to just go home.
There are very few taxis willing to drive out of Baghdad for the time being, as sporadic fighting continues and looting is widespread.
And the prices are far beyond the means of Talal and his comrades anyway.
In the meantime, they are staying for security reasons on the lawns of the Palestine Hotel, among reporters carrying out live stand-ups.
“The country is under no state security and we are afraid that people who hated the regime might attack us. We have already been robbed on the way from the south,” said another volunteer who did not wish to be identified. “Is this the way the Iraqis want to thank us? We left wives and kids to fight here, and nobody wants to give us shelter or even water,” he said.
An Iraqi driver working with foreign journalists who had overheard the conversation, broke in to ask the fighters: “And who told you to come here?
“You were only fighting for Saddam Hussein who brought the country to ruins and who let you down in the end. That’s all,” he said.
“True,” answered another fighter, “but today, Baghdad is occupied.”
