Iraq in October 2004

An October 2004 Personal Visit to Baghdad: Impressions & Disappointments

Introduction

A year has passed since I last visited Iraq. It is now two years since the onset of the illegal occupation of Iraq. It is clear if I have to rely on the US media to provide a non-biased , fair, detailed news suitable for a decent humans, I will have to wait until the ‘second coming’. I needed to see for myself. In October 2004, I headed towards Baghdad where I spent only 4-5 days.
I needed more than a month after I returned to process my emotions before I was in a state able to write my impressions about my journey to Baghdad. The trip was short but vivid enough to reflect the horrible conditions of my home country under the US occupation. I returned from Baghdad angry. I see less hope for peace and conciliation now than I did a year ago.

Shattered Hope

I held back from writing immediately, hoping for a change in the US administration that would trigger a more positive approach in the way the US is handling the situation in Iraq. Now that the elections are over, it is clear that the Iraqis will face further confused US policy and more violence. The US accelerates its robbery of the resources as it continues to ignore its responsibilities under International Law. It persists in its neglect of the civil affairs of the country. The so-called interim Iraqi government is a façade. The US embassy in Baghdad, directed by the White House, calls all the shots. It decides on budget allocations for ministries and it approves their expenditures.
So what experiences did I have in those 4-5 days that left such a bitter impression of the situation? Here is a partial list of events and observations:
- The near death experience of a nephew while attending school
- The daily humiliation Iraqis face constantly
- A missile fell on my neighbor’s home
- Daily widespread kidnappings
- Attacks by the US forces and its Iraqi trained forces on the civilians under the claim of fighting "insurgents".
The list is too depressingly large to focus on one thing. There is also the continuous neglect of the Iraqis lives, their culture, security, and the mounting unemployment epidemic. The inner fabric of the Iraqi family life is forced to face higher levels of tensions because of the current US-created conditions.

In contrast with last year, instead of moving around and collecting reports from various offices and organizations, this year I wanted to see what it is like to be a part of a family that has been living in Baghdad during the year and a half since the start of the conflict. Well, the picture proved to be direr than I imagined.

I started my trip by flying from Amman into Baghdad international airport. In Amman, there were about 30 to 50 workers from ٍSouth East Asia, under the management of our so-called brothers the Jordanians, who were heading towards Baghdad, courtesy of the continuing ‘no-Iraqis-allowed’ reconstruction policy imposed on Iraq.

Commercial flights from Amman on Jordanian airlines are operating. The trip costs about $800 for a round trip ticket. The road from Baghdad's airport to the checkpoint has road signs labeling the area as a ‘war zone’. The US authorities is unable secure the road and fighting could breakout at anytime. In short, cross at your own peril!

The flight took about one hour and forty minutes. The ride from the airport to my friends’ house lasted almost 3 hours. Normally this trip takes about 25 minutes. The random closures of main roads in the city seem to be the thing to do these days. The roads closure causes congestion and actually places Iraqi civilians in harms way. But then again who is counting that? Definitely not the US administration, nor the US-appointed Iraqi government led by ex-CIA assets.

Promises … Promises

After the warm welcomes upon my arrival, and the news exchanges about friends and relatives, the discussion turned to the current situation. No one understands why the US would let the situation in Iraq deteriorate to levels that were not experienced even during the rule of Saddam Hussein.
To the majority of Iraqis it seems that the promises made by the US administration to make Iraq a better place are simply lies that were used to con the population into a wait-and-see mode while slowly robbing, and the dismantling any supporting structure, that helped Iraqis lead a normal life. Nevertheless, up until now, there does not seem a satisfactory answer to the question "why?”

Schools

Schools had started about two weeks back but my friends were hesitant to send their kids to school due to the lack of security. An average family has a decision to make:
Submit to the threats of the ministry of education to expel students that do not show up to school or take a risk on the children's safety by sending them to schools which are continuously threatened by the resistance (commonly referred to in the US as the insurgents).

Back to the schools situation, so the next day my friends decided to send their child to school. In the morning, around 8 am, they walked him to the door of the school, made sure the child entered safely. As soon as the parents turned around, they witnessed a mortar shell falling on a government building 50 feet across the street from their son's school.

Parents in Baghdad are facing this daily reality. What makes it worse, none of the authorities, be they Iraqi or American, have taken the time to educate the students, teachers, and administrators on the basics of civil defense if a school or an area close to it comes under attack. The basics of managing Iraqi crowds facing an emergency or an attack are not even being addressed in any form. Defense and management of civilian population to avoid dangers is a non-existing discipline in today’s Iraq.

Security

A year ago, security was an issue that the US failed to address. Well, the US is still failing at addressing this issue. Last year I heard about 2-4 explosions a day, this time I could easily hear 10 to 15 every single day. These vary from car bombs to mortar shells. In fact, the security is so broken that car bombs are being found inside the 'US protected' green zone. No NGO organization of those I worked with last year is still on the ground in Baghdad. The rate of kidnappings has increased many folds. Although the international focus has only been on the non-Iraqi kidnapped, the fact is that there are more Iraqis who have been kidnapped and targeted. The reasons they are targeted are either for money or because they are cooperating with the occupation forces.

In addition to all that, there is the new targeting of doctors, medical students, and other professionals. Doctors and medical students are flat out being kidnapped and killed. So where is the secure and democratic Iraq? Please send an email to President Bush asking for answers.

Services

Electricity is just as irregular as it was before, and by 8 pm, all streets are empty. Be it security, jobs, electricity, or any general infrastructure component necessary for a developed society, none is available in a complete and reliable way to most of the people in Iraq. During my visit in 2003, I used to discuss these issues with my friends and relatives there and the common response I used to get was the Americans would take care of these problems. The people in Iraq, a year ago, had absolute hope in the promises the Americans were chanting. This year the story is vastly different, the American credibility is joked about and the realization of the sinking conditions in the country is becoming more sharp and vivid. This is causing the people to re-evaluate their future in Iraq without any options provided for them.
A sense of desperation is casting its shadow on the country. This is causing a drain in the resources of educated people and at the same time increasing the membership of the resistance. This begs the question which is heard commonly on the streets in Baghdad, is the real plan of the US to destroy and disintegrate Iraq? Has the administration been lying, again, about their plans for Iraq?

Resistance

Here is a factoid the media in the US keeps missing. There is no such thing as ‘insurgents’, there is only resistance… yes, resistance. The resistance, even though de-centralized and seemingly disorganized, is focused on one goal: To drive the Americans and their appointed Iraqi government out of Iraq.
The resistance has been uniform in its attack on the Iraqi government model as was proposed by the US at the start of the conflict. A friend brought this to my attention and it seems logical and consistent, so far, with the events that have been taking place. The proposed model was to establish an Iraqi government that is backed up with the support of international and local NGOs and the United Nations. Well, the UN was placed out of the picture about a year and a half ago, The last NGO just recently exited Iraq, and the US backed Iraqi government is losing support and momentum as their disorganization and public news of their corruption is sweeping the country. While the US forces are constantly under attack by the resistance. This situation is adding more hopelessness and desperation among Iraqis who will rally behind the resistance after a first major attack on the occupied forces.

Postscript

Can this situation be corrected? The answer depends on the intention of the US administration. So far, it has shown little, if none, of positive intentions towards Iraq and its people. Once, and if, that changes there will be a need for more troops, more money, and more international support to fix what has been broken and return to the true road of rebuilding Iraq. Until then, Iraqis will go to sleep every night listening to the sounds of cluster bombs dropping on various Iraqi cities and neighborhoods in a failed attempt to stop the ghosts of Al-Zarqawi, Al-Qaeda, and whatever other invention the US administration can use to justify its negligence, abrogation of its responsibilities under International Law, and seemingly widespread political stupidity.