Tuesday, April 3, John Kline, Congressman from MN's Second Congressional District held a town hall meet at Lakeville South HS. During the session, Freddie, an Iraqi rose to speak. The comments below are from him, at the meeting and afterwards.

Freddie is educated and had a decent future but when the Americans came, he decided he had to do something because he realized the propaganda he'd been fed did not fit the actions he saw. American soldiers had come from far away, leaving families and friends to defend the US as well as Iraq.

As he told me, Iraqis are waking up from a long time sleep under a dictatorship and darkness but just like the Americans, Iraqis want to be free. If not for the US, nothing would have changed in Iraq. Saddam invaded Kuwait, forced a war with Iran and people had to fight or get killed anyway.

Some Americans take freedom for granted. They forget that freedom is something that needs to be defended to be kept for future generations. People died for America's freedom.

At the meeting, he said, "I am thrilled to be here because it is the first time I have ever experienced an event like this. Viewing democracy in action makes me shiver. Don't, give up on us, don't give up on freedom. Iraqi people want freedom, too. The US stands as a symbol for freedom even to non-Americans all over the world."