ST. GEORGE — Basila Sulaka Graham is a grateful woman.
"I know there are people in the United States who are against the war in Iraq," said Graham, an Iraqi Chaldean American who immigrated to her adopted country at the age of 7 with other family members and who still has relatives living in Iraq. "From our perspective, we are so excited the United States went in and are trying to help the Iraqi people."
Graham, who was born in Baghdad and later moved to Detroit, is a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She and her Greek husband, John, have been married 37 years and share a deep commitment to their faith, family and Basila's Chaldean ties to one of Iraq's Christian minority groups.
"The majority of Iraqis are very happy that Saddam Hussein is out of there," Graham said during an interview in her St. George home, which overlooks much of the city. "The majority would like to see the old country go back to its rich heritage."
Living in an overwhelmingly Muslim country became stressful for the Chaldean Sulaka family once Saddam rose to power, she said.
"Saddam started showing his face in the late 1950s. We were very suppressed. That's one reason my dad left," said Graham. "There was turmoil, and we could feel what was going on. Russia was aiding Saddam, and we were afraid."
Graham's uncle immigrated to America first and later sponsored her father's move to Detroit. It was three long years before the Sulaka family was permanently reunited.
"My dad loved his country. We all loved the old country," said Graham, who has fond memories of attending a private Catholic school and walking the cobblestone streets of Baghdad to fetch bread with her grandmother. "It was a wonderful, happy life."
During the mid-1950s and 1960s, thousands upon thousands of Iraqi Chaldeans left their homeland for America, settling in the Detroit area.
Saad Marouf, chairman of the Chaldean Federation of America, an umbrella association of more than 160,000 Chaldean Americans living in metropolitan Detroit, declared the group's support for the war in Iraq in a letter to President Bush. "Over one million Christians comprised of Chaldeans, Assyrians and Syriacs are still living in Iraq. Of these, 600,000 are Chaldeans, "Marouf wrote in a March 2003 letter to Bush. "We salute all the courageous American troops, many of whom are Chaldean Americans. We pray for their safe return and for the welfare of their families who have sacrificed much to help liberate Iraq."
As the climate in Iraq changed under Saddam's rule, it became more and more dangerous to openly practice a Christian religion such as the Chaldean faith, she said.
"As things changed, my mother was told to cover her head, something she didn't do before as a Christian. My grandfather told me stories, trying to make me feel it was OK to leave and go to America," said Graham, who speaks three languages and is the only member of the LDS Church in her family. "He said the streets here were paved with gold. I think what he really meant was that America was paved with opportunities."
Those who protest the war in Iraq don't understand why America is there, she said.
"We are really doing something wonderful. Why do you think people come to this country? We live in the most beautiful, free country in the whole world," Graham said, punctuating her words with a sweeping gesture. "I have cousins and an uncle who all wanted to come here, but they couldn't. It's so sad. One is married to a doctor and they're dying to get out. The only way they can do that is if the United States liberates the country."
One relative who produced an underground newspaper during the 1970s was arrested and imprisoned for three years, she said.
"We forget Hitler and Stalin. I really do believe Saddam Hussein is right up there with them," Graham said. "The Iraqi people have been scared for many, many years. We need to stay in there and help them get the democracy they so want."
Each time a protester speaks out against the war, or whenever an American soldier's death is reported on the news, Graham's heart sinks.
"As a Chaldean, I know they're (the Iraqis) very, very ecstatic our boys are over there trying to help," she said. "Every time one is hurt or killed, we feel that. Chaldeans feel very strongly about serving their country."
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