The latest (March-April) issue of Boston Review has a riveting piece of reporting from Iraq by Nir Rosen. Nir is a fearless young reporter who has already racked up huge amounts of experience (and gathered good contacts) in Iraq, as well as Afghanistan and other war zones.
This report includes interviews with several Sunni political leaders as well as some high-ranking Sadrists. It was conducted mainly during last Ramadan (October-Novermber). Though it’s a bit dated, I think it still has real value.
5 thoughts on “Nir Rosen from Iraq”
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I want to share my story, but I am not even sure where to start. Perhaps because I still am trying to convince myself that he is traveling on a long journey that he is coming back to me. At the same time, unlike others who loved Hussein, I knew I could not come to rest without knowing exactly what happened. Whereas his parents wanted to mourn, I wanted to understand. The details were important, because it was something I felt would help me come to terms, and also something I want to share with my children when they are older. They deserve to know how their father died. More importantly, they deserve to know how their father chose to live. Their father was a man of dedication, principles, warmth, and endless amount of love; a man who lived to please his parents, love his wife, and provide for his children. For many, he may be the typical Iraqi man living in Baghdad – but for me he was my life.
The tragedy happened in the middle of what was to be one of the happiest moments for the family. My younger brother was to be married in Jordan, and for months we were planning the celebration. Hussein and I would dream about the day we would marry our three children, and would sit and plan for hours what the future before us held. But as excited I was, my heart constantly warned me. With all that we have been through in Iraq, even the sense of happiness was suffocating. Indeed, we didn’t get a chance to celebrate. In one moment, all sense of happiness was evaporated. The dream of the future died with the harsh reality of the here and now.
The last I heard from my husband was in an SMS that he sent me at noon saying he missed me. Later I was to find out, that an hour after he sent me the SMS he went to an area on the outskirts of Baghdad named Tarmiah, well known for the sectarian violence, particularly targeted at the shiaas. Hussein was going to the bank to withdraw money, and for some reason he was not afraid because he had been working in this area and with the bank for over a decade. The day before he had gone to withdraw money from the bank, the teller told him to come back the next day at the same time because there was not enough money in the safe. This was the first betrayal. Hussein came the next day at the same time and withdrew a significant amount of money. Ten minutes after he left he was surrounded by three cars filled with armed robbers. A struggle ensued, and Hussein and his three loyal employees fought for their lives. My husband is a strong and determined man. During the struggle, three of the robbers were killed, and by what can be described as nothing less than a miracle managed to escape to the local police station
He began to call his relatives, telling them that he had been shot but was safe in the police station. His cousins responded instantly, and tried to reach the police station to take him to safety. However, the road was blocked, and the US troops would not let them through. This was the second betrayal, for whereas Hussein has always been there for others, at his time of need he found himself alone and with no reinforcements. The US troops would not permit them to go through. The police station convinced him that they would take him to the checkpoint and to safety. Hussein agreed – and entered into the third betrayal. Although the police promised him protection, they offered him none and delivered him and his friends straight into the hands of the gang. They opened fire on his car, and killed all inside. Hussein was found with more than ten gunshots in his body. After he was killed, they tied his body to their car and dragged it through the street.
The details were so important to me. To lose a husband is always difficult. But to lose a husband so young was even more difficult. He died twelve days after his 32nd birthday. It was the only birthday in are 10 years of marriage that I didn’t celebrate with him. In addition, to lose him to murder and betrayal is more than anyone can bear. And yet for me my three kids are my force to move forward. The youngest is four months, and will never know firsthand the amazing character of his father. It is amazing to me that all three of them are the spitting image of their father. As if God wanted to preserve my dear husband’s memory through his children.
Our tragedy and fear is still not over. The robbers were people we knew, people who had once sat around Hussein’s farm and had breakfast with him. They are a well known tribe in the area, and the audacity didn’t end with the killing of my husband. Now they are asking for the lives of 30 of Hussein’s tribe – 10 for each of the robbers that were killed in the struggle. In addition with trying to come to terms with the loss, I fear for the lives of my children. I know that I am one of many widows in Iraq who live between the worlds of pain and fear.
Some of the comfort that has come during the time of mourning has been the calls from support. He was known for his giving without question, and the fact that he died such a brutal and tragic death makes him a martyr. I know he is in heaven, and still feel his warmth within me. Even in his death, the proof of how much he was loved was shown. When the murders surrounded the car and opened fire, his faithful employee of two years threw himself on him to protect from the gunshots. At least his final moment was in the embrace of someone who loved him to the extent he was willing to give his life.
I don’t believe anybody can ever understand what I am feeling. Besides the overwhelming sorrow is an anger directed at everyone. I am angry with Hussein for being so naïve and ideal that he did not see the signs. I am angry at the Iraqis for allowing themselves to be enveloped by this senseless violence. I am angry at myself for not being with him the final days of his life. I walk around as a numb person; the only thing in my mind at this point is my children. How can I find the strength to become the mother and father to them that they will need? How can I protect from this cruel and heartless world? How can I fulfill Hussein’s last wishes of a better future for them? If there is anything I have learned is that I need to depend on myself. The only thing I can count in is his endless love that still reaches me from his grave that will give me the inner strength and push to continue.
“They never do anything good, they close the roads, they kill the Iraqi people,” spits out 19-year-old daughter Fatima, clicking her tongue “no” repeatedly. “They own Saddam’s palaces, but they are worse than Saddam Hussein. They hurt the Iraqi people.”
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0317/p01s04-woiq.html
Helena,
This so interesting, those Kurdish in Halabja Sheikh Paul Bremer III visited them and built for them a memorial, they burned down a museum, so this will indicates how much the story of Halabja was real?!
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/16/international/middleeast/16cnd-iraq.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin
”Unrest even exploded in Iraqi Kurdistan, long believed to be a haven of calm: Demonstrators clashed with police and burned down a museum in Halabja to protest lack of services from President Jalal Talabani’s political party, which governs eastern Kurdistan.”
Salah, could you give us the source of that first, very moving piece of writing you’ve posted there?
Also, I would take a different lesson from those events yesterday in Halabja than you did. I don’t doubt that the chemical weapons attack there was ghastly. (The CW attacks on many Iranian communities were even worse, too.) But then, for the Kurdish Region rulers to treat even the people of Halabja in this rough dictatorial way shows us a glimpse of how anti-democratic they are… which is not something that the western MSM usually spends much time exploring, leaving us with some kind of impression of the Kurds as a bunch of dedicated democrats….
Helena,
This letter came to me from a friend by email.
If you have and doubt about the authenticity of the letter it’s real and happened inside Iraq and there are daily chaos that Iraqis under regrettably living now.
Read the below which also include some from Kurdish area every Iraqi despite where he live of which ethnic related the life now so warring that every Iraqi living his day for some the count for their death…..
وقال رجل الاعمال عادل حسين (45 عاما) في البصرة قلب صناعة النفط في جنوب العراق “فيما يتعلق بالامن كانت الحياة أفضل من قبل… ولكن من الناحية الاقتصادية الان أفضل بكثير.”
وفي مدينة كركوك النفطية الشمالية التي تشهد أعمال عنف قال العامل علي سلمان “قبل الحرب… كان التعذيب والقتل يحدثان في السر. الان يجري ذلك علنا. معنى الحرية اختلف. اليوم أنت حر في ان تعيش وحر في أن تقتل غيرك.”
وتبدد بدرجة كبيرة التفاؤل الحذر الذي نتج عن الانتخابات التي تمت في سلام اذ اختلف الساسة على تشكيل حكومة وحدة وطنية ودفعت سلسلة من أعمال العنف الطائفية العراق الى شفا حرب أهلية.
وأودى صراع طائفي شرس بحياة أكثر من مئة شخص في بغداد في الايام الثلاثة الماضية.
ومن المنطقة الشمالية التي يهيمن عليها الاكراد الهادئة نسبيا مرورا بالغرب الذي يقطنه سنة متمردون والشوارع التي يظللها الخوف في بغداد ذات التنوع الطائفي الى معاقل الشيعة في الجنوب التي كانت تعاني قمع صدام يشعر الجميع بالقلق من اراقة الدم اليومية.
وتحدث أغلب من سألتهم رويترز عن العنف الذي قتل عشرات الالوف ومس أغلب الاسر في البلاد. والكثيرون متشائمون مثل المحامي الذي تحدث في بغداد بعد أن قتل مسلحون أحد أفراد أسرته في هجوم طائفي بعد تفجير مزار شيعي يوم 22 فبراير شباط الماضي.
وتساءل حمد فرحان عبد الله (57 عاما) وهو مزارع من منطقة جنوبي بغداد حضر الى مشرحة المدنية يبحث عن جثة شاب من أسرته يخشى ان يكون سقط ضحية لفرق اعدام “أين هي الديمقراطية الجديدة؟ لماذا يحدث ذلك لنا؟”
وقالت ثناء اسماعيل وهي مدرسة (45 عاما) من مدينة الديوانية الجنوبية التي تقطنها أغلبية شيعية “شبح الموت يطاردنا في كل مكان…أنا مصابة بالسرطان وأحتاج لعلاج في بغداد لكن الوضع الامني ساء واضطررت للغياب عن بعض جلسات العلاج.”
ويتعارض التشاؤم السائد الان وسط مناخ جديد من التوترات الطائفية مع نتائج دراسة كان قد أعدها مركز اوكسفورد ريسيرش انترناشنال في أكتوبر تشرين الاول ونوفمبر تشرين الثاني أظهرت أن العراقيين متفائلين بشكل عام بشأن حياتهم ومستقبلهم.
لكن الاجابة على سؤال “هل حياتك أفضل الان أم أسوأ مما كانت عليه في عهد صدام” ليست بسيطة.
فهناك على سبيل المثال أعداد أكبر بكثير من السيارات على الطرق منذ أن ظهرت مدخرات الافراد بعد انهاء العقوبات التي كانت تفرضها الامم المتحدة على البلاد. لكن هناك نقصا في الوقود كما ارتفعت اسعاره في بلد يسبح فوق بحر من النفط لكنه يضطر لاستيراد البنزين.
وفي عهد صدام كان الناس يعيشون في خوف من أن يطرق الباب في الليل. وفي عهد الديمقراطية الجديدة التي ترعاها الولايات المتحدة مازال الناس يخشون الطرق على الباب لكن الزائر الان قد يكون أي شخص من مجموعة متنوعة من فرق القتل الطائفية بعضهم من افراد قوات الامن.
وقال نعيم كدوم (33 عاما) وهو عاطل من الديوانية “لم يعد للحياة معنى في الوقت الراهن ومصيرنا مجهول… لا أتوقع اي تحسن وأشعر بتشاؤم ازاء ذلك.”
ويتفق العراقيون على أن زيادة الاجور منذ الغزو وانتهاء العقوبات الاقتصادية الصارمة التي استمر عشر سنوات جعلت البعض يعيش في حالة مادية أفضل وملات الاسواق بالبضائع الاستهلاكية لكن انقطاع التيار الكهربائي باستمرار يجعل استخدام هذه البضائع أمر صعب.
وقال علاوي الزبيدي بائع ملابس في النجف المدينة الشيعية المقدسة “لا أتصور كيف لا تقدر أمريكا العظمى على اصلاح الكهرباء.”
ويقول مسؤولون أمريكيون ان محافظات البلاد وعددها 18 محافظة تصل اليها الكهرباء بمعدل 13 ساعة يوميا في المتوسط وهي زيادة كبيرة على مستويات ما بعد الحرب مباشرة لكن بغداد التي كانت تحظى باهتمام كبير من قبل شهدت تراجعا.
واستثمرت واشنطن أكثر من 20 مليار دولار في البنية الاساسية التي قوضتها العقوبات لكن الاحصاءات التي أصدرها المفتش العام الامريكي المختص بشؤون اعادة إعمار العراق في فبراير شباط الماضي أظهرت أن المياه والصرف الصحي والكهرباء أقل من مستوياتها قبل الحرب.
وقال عليم محمود (46 عاما) الذي يبيع الشاي والقهوة قرب مطعم في بغداد “اذا كانت الحياة كريمة بنسبة واحد بالمئة من قبل فهي الان صفر.”
وشكت كريمة حسين (46 عاما) ربة بيت في بغداد قائلة “بلدنا في حال سيئة من الفوضى الان. فقدنا أمننا.”
وقال العديد من الذين استطلعت اراؤهم انهم كانوا يشعرون بأمان أكبر في عهد صدام. والمثير للدهشة ان يكون من بينهم سكان من المناطق الشيعية التي عانت من قمع وحشي على مدى ثلاثة عقود حكم فيها صدام البلاد.
وقالت حميدة حسين ربة بيت وهي ذاهبة للتسوق في مدينة النجف الجنوبية التي سحق فيها جيش صدام بالدبابات والطائرات الحربية انتفاضة شيعية ضعيفة افتقرت للسلاح عام 1991 “الامن والحياة بشكل عام كانا أفضل في عهد صدام.”
وقالت نجاة حميد (32 عاما) من كربلاء “الوضع في العراق مأساوي. لا أحد يضمن أمنه عندما يخرج.”
فقط في المنطقة الشمالية التي يهيمن عليها الاكراد والتي لم تشهد تقريبا أعمال العنف السائدة في بقية ارجاء البلاد بدت توقعات الناس أكثر تفاؤلا.
قال عماد أحمد (45 عاما) وهو فني من اربيل عاصمة المنطقة التي يسيطر عليها الاكراد “الحياة بعد صدام أفضل… زادت فرص العمل لي ولكثيرين غيري.”
لكن المذيعة التلفزيونية سارة عبد الواحد (36 عاما) من مدينة دهوك الكردية قالت انها تشعر بالارتباك امام تنوع التهديدات في العراق الجديد نتيجة لحالة عدم التيقن.
وأضافت مشيرة الى صدام “قبل الحرب كانت الحياة أفضل لان جميع العراقيين بمن فيهم الاكراد كان لهم عدو واحد… الان هناك أكثر من عدو ولم نعد نميز العدو من الصديق.”
http://www.swissinfo.org/sar/swissinfo.html?siteSect=105&sid=6554070&cKey=1142520683000