Ugly Americans

On Ted Koppel's Nightline Wednesday, Jan. 14, they showed the contrast inside Baghdad of the American headquarters called th Green Zone, and the devastation that Iraqis have to live in.

The Green Zone is one of Saddam's castles. It has lots of offices, luxurious swimming pools, green manicured lawns and concrete walls and barbed wire around it to keep the insurgents out.

The outside is bombed out buildings and streets and gutters filled with wreckage and sewage; also, there are hundreds of Iraqis trying to get in the front gate in order to check on lost relatives or apply for jobs. They feel they are getting the run-around as no one inside seems to be interested in helping them. They are all very bitter, saying it is worse than under Saddam.

They call Paul Bremmer, Bush's man in charge of winning over the Iraqis, the "Ayatolla of Baghdad." There seems to be a lot of confusion here, and we are not making any friends by our opulence. The Ugly American scenario, again.