And Life Goes
On...
By Baghdad Burning
14 January, 2005
Baghdad Burning
The
elections have come and gone. The day of elections was a day of eerie
silence punctuated by a few strong explosions and the hum of helicopters
above. We remained at home and watched the situation on tv. E. left
for about an hour to see what was happening at the local polling area,
which was a secondary school nearby. He said there were maybe 50 people
at the school and a lot of them looked like they were involved with
the local electoral committee. The polling station near our house was
actually being guarded by SCIRI people (Badirs Brigade).
It was like an voting
marathon for all of the news channels- everywhere you turned there was
news of the elections. CNN, Euronews, BBC, Jazeera, Arabia, LBC
everyone was talking elections. The Arab news channels were focusing
largely on voting abroad while CNN kept showing footage from the southern
provinces and the northern ones.
I literally had
chills going up and down my spine as I watched Abdul Aziz Al Hakeem
of Iranian-inclined SCIRI dropping his ballot into a box. Behind him,
giving moral support and her vote, was what I can only guess to be his
wife. She was shrouded literally from head to foot and only her eyes
peeped out of the endless sea of black. She stuffed her ballot in the
box with black-gloved hands and submissively followed a very confident
Hakeem. E. turned to me with a smile and a wink, That might be
you in a couple of years
I promptly threw a sofa cushion
at him.
Most of our acquaintances
(Sunni and Shia) didnt vote. My cousin, who is Shia, didnt
vote because he felt he didnt really have representation
on the lists, as he called it. I laughed when he said that, But
you have your pick of at least 40 different Shia parties! I teased,
winking at his wife. I understood what he meant though. Hes a
secular, educated, non-occupation Iraqi before hes Sunni or Shia-
hes more concerned with having someone who wants to end the occupation
than someone Shia.
Were hearing
about various strange happenings at different voting areas. They say
that several areas in northern Iraq (some Assyrian and other Christian
areas) werent allowed to vote. They also say that 300 different
ballot boxes from all over the country were disqualified (mainly from
Mosul) because a large number of the vote ballots had Saddam
written on them. In other areas theres talk of Badirs Brigade
people having bought the ballots to vote, and while the people of Falloojeh
werent allowed to vote, people say that the identities of Falloojans
were temporarily borrowed for voting purposes. The stories
are endless.
In spite of that,
were all watching for the results carefully. When the elected
government takes control, will they set a timetable for American withdrawal?
That would be a shocker considering none of the current parties would
be able to remain in power without being forcefully backed by America
with tanks and troops. We hear American politicians repeatedly saying
that America will not withdraw until Iraq can secure itself. When will
that happen? Our current National Guard or Haress il Watani
are fondly called Haress il Wathani or Infidel Guard
by people in the streets. On top of it all, to be one of them is considered
such a disgrace by the general population that they have to wear masks
so that none of them can be identified by neighbors and friends.
The results wont
really matter when so many people boycotted the elections. No matter
what the number say, the reality of the situation is that there are
millions of Iraqis who will refuse to submit to an occupation government.
After almost two years of occupation, and miserable living conditions,
we want our country back.
I do have my moments
of weakness though, when I wonder who will be allowed to have power.
Politicians are talking about a balance that might arise from a Shia,
Kurdish alliance and it makes a lot of sense in theory. In theory, the
Kurdish leaders are Sunni and secular and the Shia leaders are, well,
theyre not exactly secular. If they get along, things should work
out evenly. That looks good on blogs and on paper. Reality is quite
different. Reality is that the Kurdish leaders are more concerned about
their own autonomy and as long as the Kurdish north remains secular,
the rest of Iraq can go up in flames.
An example is the
situation in Baghdad today. The parties that have power in colleges
today are actually the Iranian inclined Shia parties like Daawa
and SCIRI. Student representatives in colleges and universities these
days mainly come from the abovementioned parties. They harass Christian
and Muslim girls about what they should and shouldnt wear. They
invite students to attend latmiyas (mainly Shia religious
festivities where the participants cry and beat themselves in sorrow
over the killing of the Prophets family) and bully the cafeteria
or canteen guy into not playing music during Ramadhan and instead showing
the aforementioned latmiyas and Shia religious lectures by Ayatollah
So-and-So and Sayid Something-or-Another.
Last week my cousin
needed to visit the current Ministry of Higher Education. After the
ministry building was burned and looted, the employees had to be transferred
to a much, much smaller building in another part of the city. My cousins
wife wanted to have her college degree legalized by the ministry and
my cousin wasnt sure about how to go about doing it. So I volunteered
to go along with him because I had some questions of my own.
We headed for the
building containing the ministry employees (but hardly ever containing
the minister). It was small and cramped. Every 8 employees were stuck
in the same room. The air was tense and heavy. We were greeted in the
reception area by a bearded man who scanned us disapprovingly. Daawachi,
my cousin whispered under his breath, indicating the man was from the
Daawa Party. What could he do for us? Who did we want? We wanted
to have some documents legalized by the ministry, I said loudly, trying
to cover up my nervousness. He looked at me momentarily and then turned
to the cousin pointedly. My cousin repeated why we were there and asked
for directions. We were told to go to one of the rooms on the same floor
and begin there.
Please dress
appropriately next time you come here. The man said to me. I looked
down at what I was wearing- black pants, a beige high-necked sweater
and a knee-length black coat. Huh? I blushed furiously. He meant my
head should be covered and I should be wearing a skirt. I dont
like being told what to wear and what not to wear by strange men. I
dont work here- I dont have to follow a dress code.
I answered coldly. The cousin didnt like where the conversation
was going, he angrily interceded, Were only here for an
hour and it really isnt your business.
It is my business.
Came the answer, She should have some respect for the people who
work here. And the conversation ended. I looked around for the
people I should be respecting. There were three or four women who were
apparently ministry employees. Two of them were wearing long skirts,
loose sweaters and headscarves and the third had gone all out and was
wearing a complete jubba or robe-like garb topped with a
black head scarf. My cousin and I turned to enter the room the receptionist
had indicated and my eyes were stinging. No one could talk that way
before the war and if they did, you didnt have to listen. You
could answer back. Now, you only answer back and make it an issue if
you have some sort of death wish or just really, really like trouble.
Young females have
the option of either just giving in to the pressure and dressing and
acting safely- which means making everything longer and
looser and preferably covering some of their head or constantly being
defiant to what is becoming endemic in Iraq today. The problem with
defiance is that it doesnt just involve you personally, it involves
anyone with you at that moment- usually a male relative. It means that
there might be an exchange of ugly words or a fight and probably, after
that, a detention in Abu Ghraib.
If its like
this in Baghdad, I shudder to think what the other cities and provinces
must be like. The Allawis and Pachichis of Iraq dont sense it-
their families are safely tucked away in Dubai and Amman, and the Hakeems
and Jaffaris of Iraq promote it.
At the end of the
day, its not about having a Sunni or Shia or Kurd or Arab in power.
Its about having someone who has Iraqs best interests at
heart- not Americas, not Irans, not Israels
Its about needing someone who wants peace, prosperity, independence
and above and beyond all, unity.