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Lourdes Medrano Leslie
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Even before the bombs rained down on Iraq last week, Moslem Al-Jayashi woke up screaming in the night.
In his nightmare, he wasn’t safe in his home in Fridley — he was back in his homeland of Iraq, running from fireballs and explosions.
During that instant between sleep and consciousness, Al-Jayashi thought he was in As Samawah, the southern Iraqi city where he had lived during the Gulf War in 1991. He was just 11 then, and the roar of explosions often startled him awake.
Al-Jayashi now lives with his family on the other side of the world, but the horrors of war still burn fiercely in his mind. They grew stronger with President Bush’s 48-hour deadline, and even stronger when the U.S. attack on Iraq began.
He aches with worry for the sister who stayed behind, and for the cousins, aunts and uncles who must struggle to survive yet another conflict.
