'Liberated' Iraqis Question U.S. Motives

S A F W A N, Iraq, March 22 -- They were unforgettable images: Residents of this southern Iraqi town openly welcoming coalition forces. They danced in the streets as a picture of Saddam Hussein was torn down.

That was yesterday.

Traveling unescorted into Safwan today, I got a far different picture. Rather than affection and appreciation, I saw a lot of hostility toward the coalition forces, the United States and President Bush.

Some were even directed towards the media. (It was the first time I heard somebody refer to me as a "Satan.")

To be sure, conversations with people on the street here begin relatively calmly. But the more they talked, the angrier they got.

In part, much of their discontent stems from the unknown. In speaking with them, the newly-liberated Iraqis ask the same questions that seem to nag many outside Iraq.

Why are you here in this country? Are you trying to take over? Are you going to take our country forever? Are the Israelis coming next? Are you here to steal our oil? When are you going to get out?

Show Us the Aid

But also fueling the simmering animosity among Iraqis here is the lack of physical aid and comfort, promised by the United States before the conflict began.

The U.S. military said in press briefings today that supplies of food and medicine have been stockpiled and will be delivered to the Iraqi people as soon as possible. But for the residents of Safwan, "soon" isn't soon enough.

We were told that some people here have been wounded. And we saw one man taken to a car so they could drive him to Kuwait for treatment.

Others told us that three or four people had been wounded during the first night of the war and people were very bitter about that.

The notion that the military has things under control isn't quite clear in other aspects as well.

Some very reliable Western journalists I spoke with said they had traveled down a road that the British military told them was clear. Twenty-minutes later, they discovered land mines on the highway.