In the months leading up to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, Haidar predicted a short conflict, like the first Gulf War. Americans would kill Saddam Hussein, rebuild what they destroyed and get out.
He didn't count on the guerilla-style fighting, didn't bank on violence extending beyond the battle zones to neighborhoods and family homes. "We were afraid," Haidar recalls. "We were out of food."
Miles away from his home, from the safety of a relative's house, he watched via satellite -- on Fox News -- as the war entered his Baghdad neighborhood. Two days later, he returned to find his windows smashed and holes in his roof. His wife was pregnant. There was no more computer job for Haidar to go to, no more work for a college-educated linguist. They were hungry.
That afternoon, five American soldiers knocked on his door. They were checking for unexploded bombs.
Iraqi refugee: An unlikely patriot - Roanoke.com
