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To: mishedlo who wrote (283621)	4/9/2004 9:25:11 PM
From: Done, gone.	Respond to of 436258

California Iraqi-Americans frustrated by renewed fighting in Iraq RYAN PEARSON Associated Press POMONA, Calif. - Frustrated by renewed combat in their native country, Iraqi-Americans at two Southern California religious centers said Friday that the fighting overshadows the happiness they feel on the first anniversary of the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. Disappointment and outrage at violence in Iraq was matched for some at the Ahlul Beyt mosque in Pomona by anger at Bush administration policies. "What we see today - the bloodshed, the war, the clashes - this is a result of the mismanagement of this administration," said Sayed Moustafa al-Qazwini, an imam at the Islamic Educational Center of Orange County. Basam al-Hussaini, who came to the United States from Iraq in 1982, told a news conference the U.S. military "did a good job occupying Iraq. They did a poor job occupying the heart of the Iraqi people." He and others who gathered at the mosque which caters to Iraqi-Americans, most of them Shiite Muslims, blamed the United States for the rise of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. "This guy gained power for no reason," said al-Hussaini, a mechanical engineer from San Dimas. Al-Qazwini said al-Sadr should have been incorporated into the Iraqi governing council and not declared an outlaw. "What gave prominence to him was not his personal merits ... but the way Americans dealt with him," he said. At the Islamic Center of Southern California in Los Angeles, Susan Attar and her cousin, Asma Faik, said they firmly believe U.S. forces should remain in Iraq. "If the U.S. pulls out at this point, Iraq will turn into another Bosnia where all these different groups are fighting each other," Faik, 28, a high school teacher, said after a prayer service at the center. "Democracy can happen over there, but it needs guidance and nurturing." During Friday prayers in Pomona, imam Ridha Hajjar told about two-dozen worshippers he was saddened by the video from Iraq showing kidnappers who held a knife to a woman captive's throat and praised Allah. "This call, 'Allahu akbar,' has been so misquoted, so misrepresented ... it really hurts you. If you are Muslim you should cry." Mixing English and Arabic, Hajjar also criticized the American response. "Bombing, planes, rockets - it's not the right way," he said. "You don't face wrong with massive use of force. And look what happened - the people turned on them." He called for more political action and less fighting in Iraq. "There is wrong of all kinds but it is time to cool tempers. It is time to take a breath," said Hajjar, who leaned on a carved wooden cane next to a picture of Mecca while leading the prayers. Karem al-Chokhachi, who immigrated to the United States from Baghdad in 1982 and now lives in Upland, said he was at the Pomona mosque one year ago celebrating the successful invasion. "I was so happy and so excited to see the statue of Saddam Hussein fall down. But then when it comes today, to see Bush acting as he is acting, what is the difference between Saddam and Bush?" he said. Al-Chokhachi touched blackened skin under his left eye and said, "Saddam did this to me." He was arrested and tortured for a day when he went to Iraq to visit relatives in 1998, and a blood vessel ruptured under his eye when a guard hit him with his fist, he said. Al-Chokhachi still hopes to return to Iraq with his wife and three children to work as a civil engineer on the country's highway system, and interviewed with an American contractor two weeks ago. "But now, with all this going on, it may not happen," he said. Abbas al-Jidui, a dentist from Corona, returned Tuesday from a 10-day vacation in Iraq, in which he visited with relatives and went to his friends' medical offices. It was the first time he had been back in the country since he left in 1992, and he said he was devastated to see the ruined neighborhoods and lack of infrastructure. "It's a disaster. It's like an earthquake hit," al-Jidui said. "I had a picture in my mind from when I left. The picture now is completely different. I forgot where I am." He said he was worried about the safety of his wife and five children, ages 3 months to 13 years, who are remaining in the country for another several weeks. "You can smell death everywhere. There's no security, there's gunfire." Like others at the mosque, al-Jidui said he would like to help out the people in Iraq but was waiting for a government to provide stability. "If there is no system, everybody is scared to go there," said Mohammed Mahdi, a mechanical engineer who left Iraq in 1994 and now lives in Duarte. "I would love to go back but it's too scary right now." --- Associated Press Writer Greg Risling contributed to this report. mercurynews.com