This Is Just
Like Afghanistan
By Dahr Jamail
22 June, 2004
The New Standard
The
floor of my hotel rumbled as yet another bomb detonated in central Baghdad
at 8:55 am today. My colleague down the hall showed up and asked, Did
you feel that? I responded, Yeah, Abu Talat is scheduled
to show at 9 so we can go to work
get your stuff.
As usual, Abu Talat
was right on time and we were off into the heat and traffic, inching
our way toward the blast sight near the Central Bank.
The usual crowd
milled about a crumbled area of curb where the small bomb had turned
a nearby iron gate into a tortured metal jungle-gym. Fragments of concrete
lay strewn about the street as anxious security guards wearing black
flack jackets nervously direct the traffic which creeps by.
It is the Americans and Israelis who are planting these bombs,
said Hammad Hussan, who is a security guard at the nearby bank. His
hysteria is not uncommon here in Baghdad, where a day without an IED
or car bomb has become an oddity. The four Iraqis wounded by the blast
had already been evacuated. Hammad and several of the other guards believe
the attack is meant to destabilize the banking system, as it occurred
at the time when money is usually deposited at the bank.
One of the cars
which was ripped up from the blast sat nearby--looters already propping
bricks under it whilst taking the wheels off under the supervision of
bank security guards.
At a nearby tea
stall the owner, Hussein Ali openly expressed his grievances toward
the occupation. Being an ex-Iraqi Army Captain, he refuses to join the
new army. I dont like the Defense Minister, and nobody knows
who these people [the new government] are, he said while sweat
beads on his forehead. The mornings dont start off too hot, but
by 10 am it was already 90 degrees.
Another man sitting nearby as we drank tea jumped in, There is
no security here, and this is why we have no jobs. He continued,
The Americans can never bring security here, everyday we have
these bombs killing Iraqis, for what? Despite so many people having
grown weary of the fighting, bloodshed and bombs, Iraqis' anger toward
the occupation is rising along with the stifling summer temperatures
here.
I continued my ongoing
hospital research after the lively tea discussion over at Yarmouk Hospital.
The Assistant Manager, Dr. Hayder Al-Safar told me how there were no
problems there, that if they ever have shortages of any medicines he
calls the US-funded Ministry of Health and within days they are provided.
I stared at him
blankly, while making it a point not to ask him the question in my mind
which is, So doctor, how much, exactly, do they pay you to lie?
See, it was just
weeks earlier that Id visited Yarmouk Hospital.
At that time, Dr.
Namin Rashid, the Chief Resident, stated that the only medical help
his hospital had received lately had been a load of medical supplies
from Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani.
He complained that
the Ministry of Health consistently failed to give them enough supplies,
and his hospital currently only had 100 sets of IVs and blood transfusion
equipment. Yarmouk serves 5,000 patients each day.
He stated then,
We are getting less medical supplies now than we were during the
sanctions!
He said his hospital
is receiving only one half as many supplies as it was prior to the invasion.
He stated, The
Ministry [of Health] talks a lot, but they do no action for us.
He said that people are getting injured or killed on their way to the
hospital because of the dismal security situation. He said, Bremer
came here and talked a lot at the beginning of the occupation, but nothing
has changed.
His anger and frustration
was palpable when he discussed how many gunshot victims he treated who
are shot at US checkpoints, and said that he too was afraid to even
leave his hospital.
He was outraged
at the fact that his hospital treats 10-20 gunshot victims each day,
whereas before the invasion they treated an average of one per week,
sometimes only one per month.
But it had been
a little while since Dr. Rashid had told me these things, so Abu Talat,
my friend Tareq and I decided to go get a second opinion about what
Dr. Al-Safar had just told us.
Abu Talat, who is
like a guided missile when it comes to gathering information for my
stories, insisted we go straight to the supply room of the hospital.
There we met Dr.
Um Mohammed at her desk. She is responsible for assisting in running
the supply distribution for the hospital. At first reluctant to talk
with me about supply shortages, I let her know Dr. Al-Safar had told
me everything was great.
He says these
things but he knows better, she said while sitting very still,
We tell him what we need, and he says that he asks the Ministry
of Health but they dont give it to him, so why bother?
She has grown weary
of the broken promises from the coalition, scattered like useless debris
over the wreckage of her shattered country.
This is just
like Afghanistan, she said while beginning to open up more about
things that she has obviously been internalizing, We lack everything
here.
Her talk goes straight
to those responsible for the lack of supplies--those funding and controlling
the Ministry of Health: the US-led CPA.
Theyve
destroyed the foundations of Iraq. What do you think we can do with
no foundations, she asked, her eyes looking deeply into mine as
I write furiously on my note pad while maintaining eye contact. Even
if the Americans stay here 15 years, there will be no security.
Her dark eyes are
like lasers as her focused discussion sears into one topic after another.
She is on fire.
The West knows
what is happening here but nobody can stand up to the colonial superpower
America. Look at this hospital! Anything they do or build is superficial,
not fundamental, she stated firmly, Bush is a great actor
while he speaks of freedom.
She shifts to the
prison scandal, Abu Ghraib attacked the dignity of the Iraqi people.
America didnt become barbarians from killing Indians, Vietnamese,
Central Americans, Afghanis, and bombing us and our young children who
now have psychological scars?
I never liked
Saddam, nor did I support him, but at least under the dictator there
was order and some basic services, she continued vehemently, her
eyes becoming more intense after Id thought that impossible. Now
there is no order, no electricity, no fundamental stability.
Abu Talat suggested
that she be careful, speaking so sternly about the failure of the occupation.
She looked piercingly at him and says; I am afraid, but not for
myself. Im not afraid to tell the truth, Im only afraid
for my family.
Nevertheless, she
continued with this chance to express her anger.
So many Iraqis
said the Americans would treat them better than Saddam, but when they
saw the Americans stealing and killing, the Iraqis started to think
differently about them.
Though the topic
is dancing about, the passion of her feelings links it all together.
The bad side of the Americans has been exposed to Iraqis now,
and this is what we are seeing, she said, referencing the indiscriminate
street killings, Abu Ghraib and the wedding party massacre. Me
and my husband used to want to go to America, she said before
taking a long pause without looking away.
The next words are
from her eyes, and she says, Now
.never.
She tells us a story
of a truck that was turning around near a US tank and was shot because
it was too close. Everyone in it was severely injured, many had lost
their eyes in the shrapnel. She was the doctor who wrote up the report,
and had written, occupying forces for those responsible
for destroying the truck. She said the administrator of Yarmouk Hospital
crossed out occupying, then crossed out forces
from the report.
So the truck
just exploded on its own? she asked.
Several seconds
were allowed to pass to drive home her point.
She then told of
a car full of medications for the hospital that was traveling from the
airport when it was shot by a passing tank, And the tank did not
even stop, she added.
Her anger from being
on the front lines, treating the casualties churned out on a daily basis
by the occupation forces was palpable.
Some Iraqis
still believe the Americans are here to help them, she said in
disbelief.
I pray that
God shows them what the Americans are like, she said unmoving,
her eyes unwavering. I pray that God sicks the Americans on them
so they will see for themselves.
She asked us if
the occupation forces suffer from psychological problems, because she
doesnt think it is possible for anyone to do and say the things
they do in Iraq and still be healthy.
She looked even
deeper into my eyes and says, Dont imagine that the US has
come here to do us any good.
Abu Talat asked
her who her husband is, wondering if her strong opinions have been influenced
by him.
She looked directly
at him and said, These are MY thoughts and emotions! Who my husband
might be is irrelevant to my beliefs."
We thank her and
walk out of the hospital to find several Humvees out front, en route
to what a security guard told us was yet another bombing.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dahr Jamail is Baghdad
correspondent for The NewStandard. He is an Alaskan devoted to covering
the untold stories from occupied Iraq. You can help Dahr continue his
crucial work in Iraq by making donations. For more information or to
donate to Dahr, visit The
NewStandard.
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