|
Arizona Assyrian
Iraqis travel to California to vote
January 30, 2005
By ANTONIO PLANAS
REVIEW-JOURNAL
Isaac Toma throws his arms into
the air after voting in the Iraq election Saturday in Irvine,
Calif. Toma is wearing traditional Assyrian clothing. The Henderson
resident fled Iraq in 1973.
It was on an Easter night more than
two decades ago that 14-year-old Johny Kako and his brothers
and sisters were abducted from their home at gunpoint and driven
to the Iranian border.
The Las Vegas resident, now 38, said
unlike many Iraqis living in the United States, he didn't flee
Iraq but was kicked out for not supporting Saddam Hussein's Baath
Party.
Kako added that today's election in
Iraq is the beginning of a democratic era in a country where
people no longer have to be afraid to stand up for their beliefs.
"It's time now," said Kako,
who was wearing an Iraqi soccer jersey. "Either we get democracy
going, or we fall under some other idiot like Saddam."
Kako on Saturday joined a group of Iraqis
from Nevada who made the trek of about 250 miles to Irvine, Calif.,
so they could cast ballots in what is being called the country's
first free election in about a half-century.
Irvine is one of several sites in the
United States where anyone who was born in Iraq or whose father
was born in Iraq can vote. Other polling stations include Washington,
D.C., Nashville, Tenn., Chicago and Detroit.
But some Iraqis living in the United
States have questioned why anyone should be allowed to vote if
they don't live in Iraq.
Odisho Odisho said he has no plans to
move back to Iraq. The 62-year-old 7-Eleven owner said his life
is in America, but he couldn't pass up the chance to cast his
first vote in an Iraqi election.
"We are Iraqis," he said.
"We should have a part in determining who will govern there."
Odisho lived in Iraq for 40 years.
Henderson resident Isaac Toma fled Iraq
in 1973 and doesn't have fond memories of living under Saddam's
regime.
"It was like living in hell,"
he said. "Saddam Hussein was the worst dictator in the world.
We read in school about Stalin and Hitler. Saddam Hussein surpassed
them."
Toma said Saddam's regime oppressed
Christians, including the Assyrians, from whom Toma is descended.
The Assyrian empire was centered in northern Iraq and spread
throughout the Middle East for about 300 years.
Toma said the bloodshed seen on television
shouldn't discredit the U.S. effort to create a democracy in
Iraq.
He added that even though insurgents
are trying to interfere with the elections, most Iraqis view
the U.S. military as liberators, not invaders.
And it is with aid from the U.S. military
that Toma said Iraqis might one day be able to live a life as
good as the one that he's created for himself in Nevada. Toma
is the owner of a realty and development company in Las Vegas.
"This is a different life here,"
Toma said. "When we came to the United States, we started
living like decent human beings."
The group traveling to Irvine took the
flags of Iraq, Assyria and the United States. Assyrian music
resonated from the car's speakers moments before Toma stuck his
head out of the window, leaving a final message for onlookers.
"It's a new day for our people,"
he said.
[Save a link to this article and return to it at www.savethis.com]
[Save a link to this article and return to it at www.savethis.com]
[Email a link to this article] [Email a link to this article]
[Printer-friendly version of this article] [Printer-friendly
version of this article] [View a list of the most popular
articles on our site]
|
