With time on his hands....
American finds pen pal in Saddam Hussein
nobody PHILADELPHIA
metimes.com
A Pennsylvania man who wanted to promote cooperation between Iraq and the United States in the wake of the September 11 attacks apparently has a new pen pal in Saddam Hussein.
The Philadelphia Inquirer on October 22 quoted Christopher Love, 43, from suburban Philadelphia, as saying he had e-mailed the Iraqi president in September while grief-stricken over the plane attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center and damaged the Pentagon.
Love called on Saddam to set aside his differences with Washington and join a U.S.-led coalition against "terrorism, hunger and strife in every country."
Never did he expect a response. Iraq has been at odds with the United States since before the 1991 Gulf War, which ended with Baghdad's defeat and the imposition of no-fly zones over Iraq that are patrolled by U.S. military planes.
But on October 18, Love says he found a message purporting to be from Hussein himself in his e-mail basket. "My jaw kind of dropped," Love told the newspaper. "I was extremely shocked."
Love, a software engineer, called the message "a warm and genuine response" that expressed condolences for the victims of the attacks and voiced the blessing: "God has created us and to Him we return. May God give you a long life."
Love, whom Hussein described as a "brother in the family of mankind," planned to write back to the Iraqi president on October 22 and say "thank you for your gracious response."
Love said he sent his original e-mail to the Iraqi News Agency, which agreed to pass it on to the president. |
