 | » Tips for Teachers |  |
Monday, January 24, 2005
Teacher says troops need to leave Iraq
By JIM HAUG | News-Journal Staff Writer
DAYTONA BEACH — Immigrants are often torn between their loyalty for their new country and affection for their old.
Aysar Sussan grew up in Baghdad. His sisters and mother still live there.
The 50-year-old business professor at the University of Central Florida drives a BMW with a campaign sticker for President George W. Bush.
Sussan hated Saddam Hussein, the man he calls a “thug and gangster.” During the Iraq-Iran War, Sussan was forced to serve on a border patrol.
But he has misgivings about American soldiers being in Iraq. The removal of Saddam is “good for Iraq, (but) it’s not good for America,” he said. “It’s not worth it for Americans to die there.”
Sussan, a Republican, said the Bush administration poorly planned the future of post-war Iraq. He doubts his family will bother to vote in the Iraqi elections Sunday because the situation is so chaotic and they would not know who to vote for.
He said his family lives in a relatively safe part of Baghdad, but they’re afraid to leave their house for fear of a bomb attack.
Despite the bumper sticker, Sussan is not an enthusiastic supporter of Bush.
“I voted for the party,” he said.
The professor supports the Republicans because they’re “aggressive” and “results-oriented.” But Sussan did not agree with pro-war justifications that tried to link his native country to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Sussan teaches international business at the UCF where faculty and students like to debate political issues. He rejects his former student and friend Jerry Frano’s view that the Bush Administration is motivated by imperialistic greed.
“The gold in Iraq is its oil,” said Frano, a computer support specialist said.
Instead, Sussan said the president was justified in wanting to stabilize the Middle East and spread democracy.
But the current situation in Iraq reminds him of the New York City blackout of 1977. As a graduate student there at Columbia University, he witnessed the looting when the power failed. Without security, society gives way to chaos, Sussan said.
The professor also believes that neighboring countries are behind the Iraqi insurgency. Because they're ruled by dictatorships, they don't want their people to see a successful democracy in Middle East, Sussan said.
The best hope is for Iraq to train its own security forces and for the United States to leave as soon as possible.
"Time is not to the benefit of the Americans," he said.
Sussan has little interest in returning to Iraq. Since he has lived in the United States for more than 20 years, he feels more connected to the United States than his homeland.
While he walks with a limp from a college soccer injury, he has become more interested in American football.
"I like the (Miami) Dolphins," he said.
As a member of the Iraq's Christian minority, Sussan never felt welcome when he lived there. He said churches were often burned to the ground. He thought he escaped Iraq for good when he left for college in the United States in the 1970s.
He made the mistake of returning home for a family visit when the Iraq-Iran war broke out in 1980. Sussan was stuck in Iraq for six years before he could leave for graduate school in Poland. He went on to school in Canada before completing his doctorate in business management at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale.
Occasionally, the professor will discuss politics in class at UCF. However, he said most students are preoccupied with work and school.
Pollyann Brazina, believes the United States rushed into war. As one of Sussan's new students, she is looking forward to hearing his views.
"It will be interesting," she said.