Two unidentified Iraqi women shop in the Shorja market in Baghdad, Iraq. (Photo: Karim Sahib)

The covered Shorja food market in central Baghdad is always very busy, especially in the morning. That's when the women come out to buy food before the temperature starts to rise. In the summer, temperatures can reach 120° F.

The foodstuff is laid out in the wooden stalls in big bags. Vendors scoop out the quantities wanted by their clients. Everything is available from eggplants to rice and nuts to cans of Pepsi and 7-UP.

Not all Iraqis can afford to shop in the market. The average income of an Iraqi is around $10 per month. A kilo of rice costs 20 cents and a tin of milk powder for babies is around 16 cents. Most Iraqis must rely on the monthly food ration distributed by the government. The rations mostly include flour, beans, and soap.

Sahar Saadi, a mother of four, has just bought some pasta, sugar, and flour to make a cake and some vegetables. Her husband is a soldier in the Iraqi army.

"We are not afraid of the U.S. threat; they will never win," says Saadi. "We have confidence in the leadership of our great President Saddam Hussein."

This is a very common answer in Iraq, but it's not always true. Iraqis have learned to answer journalists' questions with praise of their country and their leader. Criticism of the Iraqi President and his political party is harshly punished, usually by imprisonment. For more than three decades, Iraq has been ruled by one party—the socialist nationalist Baath Party. Saddam Hussein has been President since 1979.

Sometimes, however, when no one else is listening, Iraqis will tell foreign journalists a different story. They will say just how much they are scared of a U.S. military campaign against their country, especially because Baghdad could be one of the main targets. Few will agree to give their names.

In July, members of the Iraqi Parliament held an extraordinary session to talk about the U.S. threats against their country. The statements from Legislators were very defiant. Everyone agreed to support the Iraqi leadership in all the steps it would take to defend Iraq.

"The U.S. threats to remove President Saddam from power are against international law," Legislator Behnam Abulsuf told Scholastic News. "We voted for our President; why should the U.S. decide for us?"

Many Iraqis have fled the repression and dire economic conditions of their country into neighboring Jordan. They dare to speak out against Hussein publicly.

"Anyone is better than Saddam Hussein," said an Iraqi man in downtown Amman, who only gave his name as Khaled. "Our country has suffered a lot because of him. We will support anyone who helps us get rid of Saddam."

In the Shorja market in Baghdad, the people go on about their daily lives, saying very little against their leader. For the past 12 years, they have learned this is the best way to deal with UN sanctions and U.S. bombing campaigns. Ask in the right place at the right time and you will learn that Iraqis are worried about their very uncertain future.