"This is a moment we have waited for for years," says Alali, treasurer of the Iraqi Community Center. "I know it sounds crazy that I am from Iraq and I support the war. But people who are against the war don't understand how evil Saddam Hussein is. We do."

Alali, 32, fled from Iraq to Saudi Arabia in 1991. He thought he would unite with his family there soon. But he was the only one who managed to leave Iraq successfully. He hasn't seen his family since.

"My life started when I arrived in the United States," says Alali, who stayed in a refugee camp in Saudi Arabia for 3¹/2 years before coming to America. "For the first time in my life, I can say whatever I want. I can live without fear. It is freedom."

Alali hasn't gotten much sleep since the United States attacked Iraq on March 19. Every morning, the first thing he does is turn on the television and watch live reports on CNN. He is worried about his family members back in Iraq, but he is excited that the allied forces are making progress.

Most of the 200 foreign-born Iraqis that the Iraqi center serves are torn between these two emotions. They frown and sigh when they see footage of civilian casualties. They cheer when they see food and humanitarian aid shipped to places where the allied forces have taken control.

"This is a war. Of course people are killed," says Jawad Almamori, who came to the United States in 1995. "But compared with all the people that Saddam Hussein has killed and will kill, it is nothing. We just hope it is a quick war."

Almamori, 36, says many Iraqis are forced to fight the United States because Saddam Hussein will kill their families if they don't.

"Saddam Hussein killed my father because he refused to fight for him," Almamori says. "Because of Saddam Hussein, Iraq is the only country in the world that has experienced three large-scale wars in 10 years. He is a tyrant. He does nothing good for the people. I can see why President Bush doesn't trust him."

The second generation of Iraqi immigrants has experienced even more conflicting emotions.

Ahmed Hashem, 17, and his family experienced the first Persian Gulf War and the subsequent sanctions. They escaped to Jordan first and settled in the United States in 1994. Most of their relatives are still in Iraq.

Since this new war broke out, Hashem's father, Saad, doesn't sleep until dawn so he can watch news from the Al-Jazeera TV network. When he does get some sleep, he sleeps on the living room couch. Like Ali, he turns on the TV once he wakes up.

Hashem says he has mixed feelings about the war in Iraq.

"I am extremely against any violence," says Hashem, who joined the antiwar demonstration in San Francisco on March 19. "But since the war started, I want to believe the United States is doing a good thing. I want to believe Rumsfeld when he says America will only target Iraq's military infrastructure. I guess we have no choice but to trust him."

Hashem says he wants to return to Iraq one day to meet his grandparents, to see the house where he grew up and to revisit the river near his house where his mother used to wash clothes.

Returning to their hometown is a dream shared by many Iraqis. Alali cannot wait to take his wife and baby daughter to meet his parents. He also has a grander wish. He envisions an Iraq where freedom and democracy rule, an Iraq that will no longer suffer from wars, and an Iraq that can resume its Babylonian glory.

"Once Saddam Hussein is out of power, the Iraqi people can take care of themselves," he says.