Heat, Death,
Abduction In Iraq
By Girl Blog
From Iraq
02 August, 2004
Baghdad Burning
An
insurmountable combination of heat and family issues has kept me from
blogging and Im feeling terribly guilty. I have actually started
to avoid the computer which seems to look at me reprovingly every time
I pass by.
The heat is unbearable.
It begins very early in the day and continues late into the night. Youd
think that once the sun has set, the weather would cool appreciably-
no such thing in Baghdad. Once the sun sets, the buildings and streets
cease to absorb heat and instead begin to emanate it. If you stand a
few centimeters away from any stucco or brick wall, you can feel the
waves of heat coming at you from every crack and crevice.
The electricity
has been quite bad. On some days, were lucky to get 12 hours-
3 hours of electricity for three hours of no electricity- but more often
than not, its four hours of no electricity and two hours of electricity.
A couple of weeks ago, there was a day when our area had only one hour
of electricity out of 23 hours with no power. The hellish weather had
everyone out in their gardens by sunset, trying to find a way to stay
cool.
Incidentally, one
of man's greatest creations is definitely the refrigerator. Ive
made it a habit to rush into the kitchen every time anyone shows any
inclination for a cool beverage. It gives me a great excuse to stand
in front of the refrigerator for a couple of moments and let the cool-
albeit slightly odorous- refrigerated air surround me. When we have
some generator electricity, we keep the refrigerator working. At night,
the refrigerator not only provides chilled air, and cold water, but
it also offers that pale yellow light which falls like a beacon of hope
across the darkened kitchen
The family issues
include the death of an older aunt. She had a stroke shortly after the
war and has been deteriorating ever since. A combination of bad security,
lack of the necessary health facilities and general stress and tension
finally took its toll. Weve been quite busy with the funeral process
which can be extensive and drawn-out in Iraq. The deceased is buried
after the proper preparation rituals, which shouldnt take longer
than a day. The first problems we faced occurred in the graveyard. Upon
visiting the graveyard, my uncles discovered that the family plot which
had been purchased years ago had very recently been occupied by some
strangers who could find very little room elsewhere in the overcrowded
cemetery. The grounds keeper apologized profusely but said that they
were bringing in an average of almost 100 bodies a month this year to
his graveyard alone- where was he supposed to bury the bodies?
After some negotiations,
the uncles were directed to some empty spaces on the outer borders of
the cemetery and the aunt was resignedly buried there. Immediately after
began the 7-day mourning ritual in the deceased aunts house. For
seven days- from morning until evening- friends, family and neighbors
all come to give the family their condolences and mourn the dead. This
is called a fatiha or a wake. Another wake is simultaneously
held at a local mosque and this one is attended by the men- it lasts
for only three days. Scheduling the mosque wake was also an issue because
so many of the mosques are booked for wakes lately.
Lately, the condolences
from neighbors and friends come in the form of, She was much too
young for such a death, but you should thank God- its a better
death than most these days
And while death in general is
still regarded as unfortunate, it is preferable to die of a stroke or
natural causes than to die, say, of a car bomb, gun shot, beheading
or under torture
Security-wise, the
situation is both better and worse all at once. The streets feel a little
bit safer because you can see policemen standing around in the more
crowded areas and even in some residential areas. There arent
nearly enough to keep things secure, but just seeing someone standing
there is a little bit comforting. At the same time, kidnappings have
multiplied. Its an epidemic now. Everyone seems to know someone
who was abducted. Some are abducted for ransom while others are abducted
for religious or political reasons. The abduction of foreigners is on
the increase. People coming and going from Syria and Jordan tell stories
of how their convoy or bus or private car was stopped in the middle
of the road by men with covered faces and how passports and documents
are checked. Should anything suspicious surface (like a British or American
passport), the whole thing immediately turns from a check
or tafteesh to an abduction.
I get emails by
the dozen from people crying out against the abduction of foreigners.
Endlessly I read the lines, But these people are there to help
you- they are aide workers
or But the press is there
for a good cause
, etc. What people abroad dont seem
to realize is the fact that everything is mixed up right now. Seeing
a foreigner, theres often no way to tell who is who. The blonde
guy in the sunglasses and beige vest walking down the street could be
a reporter or someone who works with a humanitarian group- but he could
just as likely be security from one of those private mercenary
companies were hearing so much about.
Is there sympathy
with all these abductees? There is. We hate seeing them looking frightened
on television. We hate thinking of the fact that they have families
and friends who worry about them in distant countries and wonder how
in the world they managed to end up in the hell that is now Iraq
but for every foreigner abducted, there are probably 10 Iraqis being
abducted and while we have to be here because it is home, truck drivers,
security personnel for foreign companies and contractors do not. Sympathy
has its limits in the Iraqi summer heat. Dozens of Iraqis are dying
on a daily basis in places like Falloojeh and Najaf and everyone is
mysteriously silent- one Brit, American or Pakistani dies and the world
is in an uproar- it is getting tiresome.
Politically, things
seem to be moving slowly. Maybe it's the heat. Everyone is waiting for
the up and coming National Conference that is being debated so much.
The problem is that it seems all of the same parties are going to be
running- SCIRI, Da'awa, INC, PUK, etc. There does seem to be an interesting
political resistance movement building up against them. Many of the
parties that weren't involved with the CPA and Governing Council are
currently trying to get their collective acts together.
Word on the street
has it that email, internet access, and telephone calls are being monitored
closely. We actually heard a couple of reports of people being detained
due to the contents of their email. It's a daunting thought and speaks
volumes about our current 'liberated' status- and please don't bother
sending me a copy of the "Patriot Act"... this last year it
has felt like everyone is under suspicion for something.