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It seems in the last few weeks we have had a influx of "Hate America First" stories here. I wanted to start a thread on some of the good things going on over in Iraq with stories from people who lived there before and after the fall of the "Butcher of Bagdad" Saddam Hussain.

We seem (or choose) to forget what was going on over there prior to 9/11 and after.



Let's hear from the oppressed peoples that were living under this loose cannon, that was possibly a threat to our national security. Why do I say threat?

Just look at how he was thumbing his nose at UN inspections. How he defied UN resolutions time after time. I forget how many but 1 is too many.



That is not my point here. We are there. We have liberated millions from a cruel dictator and I want to spread their word.



I invite anyone who has a story or stories about someone who was there before and after Saddam to add their story.

Thanx



Here is my first I will kick it off with:



I was born and raised in Kirkuk until I attended the University of Mosul. After graduating, I went back to Kirkuk, but under Saddam it was very difficult to live there. Saddam and the Ba'athist Party made it impossible for Kurds to live in Kirkuk. It was not possible to be comfortable under his regime because he hated the Kurds. There were many laws against us. We could not find work, we could not register with our Kurdish names, we could not give our children Kurdish names, and we were afraid for our safety.

In 1991, after the first war, there was an uprising against Saddam in Iraq. We liberated almost all the provinces. But Saddam fought back. Thousands of people ran away from Kirkurk to Erbil. We left in two cars, with my family and neighbors. As we were driving, Saddam's men were shooting at us from helicopters. My father swerved as he drove to avoid their fire. We escaped the helicopters, but were ambushed by Saddam's personal soldiers.

They shot our car with machine guns and RPGs. Our car burst into flames. I had been shot in the shoulder. Many of my family members were killed.

Somehow, I managed to get out of the door - I had locked it, but maybe it was God, I got out. I thought I was the only one from my family alive. But later I found my younger brother and my father. My father had been shot three times. The soldiers came up and wanted to execute my father. My little brother and I cried on their boots. We begged them not to kill him. They let him go. We also found my grandmother - she was completely burned, but she was alive.

Thousands of Kurdish young men were killed by Saddam.

We returned to Kirkuk. When Saddam took control of Kirkurk again, we fled to Erbil, in the Kurdish safe haven. We were free. But my heart was in Kirkurk.

I worked as an agronomist for 5 years and then worked for the United Nations for 7 years. When I heard that the Americans were coming to free Iraq I was very hopeful. I wanted to go home.

As soon as I heard that Kirkuk was free I went back. Before the Americans came, you could not say you were Kurdish or fly a Kurdish flag in Kirkuk. Now you can be proud to be a Kurd in Kirkurk. It is wonderful to say who you are and not be afraid and it is wonderful to look towards rebuilding my home and my community.

Kirkuk is now a good place to live. There are good relations between the Arabs and Kurds and other groups. People have always co-operated and now that Saddam is gone, we can co-operate again.

The problems are not with the people in Kirkuk but from the outside. People are coming from other places and making problems for us. They do not want a free city. So it is very hard to create a new community because for 35 years Saddam pushed us down and now people are not sure what to do, but we want to try together.

In July, I came to the United States to learn about democracy to help my country and my community. I had not heard about democracy in Kirkuk, but heard a little about it in Kurdistan. So to learn more I have met with Senators, Mayors, and Congress and had lessons in democracy. It is very new to me, but I really like it. I think it is very important because every citizen has the same level of rights. The person in the street has the same rights as the President. And, the government is for the people and the people are all the same. I want to build that in my home. I want it to work in Iraq and I want to teach the people about what I have learned here in the United States about democracy and a free society.

I have met with many Americans since arriving and they have all been so nice and friendly. They make me feel very welcome. Some have said that they feel guilty for what has happened in Iraq, but I say there is no reason for guilt, we have more safety now and are much happier. I think we share the same feelings of excitement and nervousness about the future but I know it will be much better.

For 35 years Saddam pushed us down. He forced me to leave my home and my community to find safety. But now, we have been given freedom for the first time. It is all new and feels like a dream. We have a new government who I think is good and who promises to do great things. We can live and work and learn and hope.

So I want to thank Americans for the gift of democracy and freedom that you have given us.

Marriages Blossom in New Era



A wedding boom is under way as salaries rise and the old restrictions no longer apply.

By Dhiya Rasan in Baghdad



"Today I am free, and I will marry the woman I love," declared 28-year-old Baghdad baker Mohammed Abdullah.

Soon came signs that the wedding had taken place: the zaghrouta – the traditional ululation of joy – sounded from the courtroom, and a shower of chocolates was tossed into the street by Abdullah’s relatives.

Abdullah is one of the many Iraqis who have got married in what officials say is a post-war wedding boom brought on by rising salaries and the end of restrictions on marriage imposed by the former regime.

Before the war, Abdullah could not get married because – like thousands of other young men – he was dodging military service.

"I didn’t lead a normal life because of the Baathists and security men chasing me," he said. To avoid capture, Abdullah used to sleep in the bakery where he worked.

Even if he had been able to get to the court without getting arrested, no judge would have certified his marriage without seeing documentation proving he had served in the military.

But today, conscription is a thing of the past, along with the need to get letters of recommendation from your local neighbourhood representative and security office.

Getting approval to marry "takes three minutes nowadays, whereas previously it lasted for months", said al-Bayaa court head Ihsan Farook.

Salih Thabet al-Azawi, who head a court in north Baghdad's Kadhemiya district, said that between April and June this year, just over 1,100 couples tied the knot in there, compared with the figure of around 200 which would have been average for the same three-month period in previous years.

According to Azawi, in past years twice as many people were divorcing as marrying. But today, some of the reasons for divorce – such as money problems or the emigration of one of the partners – have faded, and in the last three months only 48 cases have come before him.

In the old days, Iraqis found it hard to earn the kind of income that their prospective brides' families demanded in the country's inflation-ravaged economy.

Now, many people can afford to marry, largely due to a rise in earnings since the war. Civil servants in particular have benefited. Khaldoun Dhiab, 33, a chemical engineer in the public sector, makes the equivalent of 330 US dollars a month now, an 1,800 per cent improvement on the 17 dollars he earned before the war.

Iraqis were sometimes prevented from marrying their chosen partner by the regime's security regulations, or forced to divorce people regarded as undesirable.

Khaled Ayad, 32, who came to the courthouse to remarry his ex-wife, recounted the story of their divorce.

As an accountant working for Saddam Hussein’s presidential office, he should have got special permission from the security services to marry his wife, a Kurd - he himself is an Arab. When his employers found out he was married – only after he applied to the authorities to have a ration card issued for his newborn son - they forced him to get divorced.

"Now that there are no security restrictions preventing me from returning to my dear wife, I feel happy and relaxed again," he said.

Dhiya Rasan is an IWPR trainee in Baghdad.

Suffering for Their Art



Women artists, marginalised under the previous regime, get boost with opening of new gallery dedicated to exhibiting their work.

By Neda Shukur in Baghdad (ICR No. 119, 01-Apr-05)

Malak Jamil considers herself neither single nor married. Her husband, an Iraqi soldier, went missing twenty years ago. Painting has helped Jamil to relive memories of their short time together, and inspired her to open a new gallery for female artists in Baghdad.

“Few women had the opportunity to participate in art exhibitions and cultural activities during the last regime. It is high time that women contributed to the scene along with the men, after all, we have many female artists in Iraq," she said.

Jamil has brought together a group of well-known Baghdad artists to form a society associated with the Kahramaneh gallery. One of the main aims of the society is to raise funds in support of female artists in Iraq.

Despite the hardships of life in Baghdad, women artists are determined to confront the challenges they face - their work is an expression of their hopes and struggles, and a potential source of income.

"Women will be encouraged to earn a living by painting, knitting, designing clothes and even pottery," said Jamil. “The society’s collected revenues may be able to help a woman furnish her house when she gets married."

Jamil’s own artwork focuses on the meeting of Shehrazad and Shahrayar, a bride and groom. In one painting, the bride is carrying a gold pot full of smouldering herbs, a traditional method of warding off evil. Shehrazad is portrayed as an Iraqi woman counting her few moments of happiness, because she is afraid of what will come next. This painting is a commentary on marriage in Iraq.

Iraq’s painful past has left many women alone. Hundreds of thousands of men were killed or disappeared during Saddam’s regime, and many of their wives have been left to live with poverty or isolation.

Widad Al-Orfali is exhibiting two of her paintings at Kahramaneh. One of them, called “Steadfastness”, depicts a large letter N filled with a collection of helmets in bright colours interwoven with leaves. It tells of the struggle between life and death. The addition of a date palm serves as a symbol of the patience of Iraqis. "No matter how they oppress us, we continue to survive,” said Al-Orfali. “The long struggle of ten years of sanctions has struck me, and I think, why did we have to suffer so many wars?"

Ishtar Jamil Hamoudi uses legend in her work to comment on the status of women. The name Ishtar is taken from the goddess of Sumerian culture. Hamoudi painted Ishtar as a Sumerian queen descending from heaven, igniting the earth with fire. In this work, female suffering and bravery is depicted through surrealism and metaphor.

Kahramaneh provides a moving insight into the experiences of Iraqi women. As well as offering them financial support and a form of therapy, the gallery also documents an important point in the country’s history. These women reconcile a painful past with the hope of an Iraq at peace.

Neda Shukur is an IWPR trainee journalist in Baghdad.

(Just to put this in a historical / contemporaneous context, I seem to remember that America and its Allies had the chance after the first Gulf War in 91 (?92?) to drive forward and capture/ eliminate Saddam. They chose not to, saying they didn`t have a UN resolution to do so. However in 2004, the son of the person who had chosen not to advance, went in "for the kill" so to speak - without a UN resolution. I am really sorry that so many British and American troops, and so many `ordinary` non-military Iraqis, have been killed as a result of that decision. Yes, 11/9/01 ("9/11" in American notation) was terrible, but the deaths of innocents doesn`t put it right.

My neighbor grew up in Egypt and told me the Americans should have handled it the same way her people do - get a bunch of terrorists to assassinate Mr. Hussein and the whole invasion could have been avoided.

john8pies wrote: (Just to put this in a historical / contemporaneous context, I seem to remember that America and its Allies had the chance after the first Gulf War in 91 (?92?) to drive forward and capture/ eliminate Saddam. They chose not to, saying they didn`t have a UN resolution to do so. However in 2004, the son of the person who had chosen not to advance, went in "for the kill" so to speak - without a UN resolution. I am really sorry that so many British and American troops, and so many `ordinary` non-military Iraqis, have been killed as a result of that decision. Yes, 11/9/01 ("9/11" in American notation) was terrible, but the deaths of innocents doesn`t put it right.


I have to agree with you that the Jr. Bush went in to do what Daddy didn't have the guts to do the first time. What a waste of life the first one was too. And, I don't see the price of oil going down with this second invasion. Do you think maybe the Middle East is tired of the US sticking our guns up their butts? And where is Bin-Laden - the original target of our attacks? Maybe their lives have been improved with more freedoms but I doubt that was our call to make.

It is nice to know that at least some lives have been made better by the whole affair. It is a complex topic, though. The death toll is significant. What is the ratio of improved lives to lost lives and were all those lives lost out of necessity? I think the question is not 'Was Saddam bad?' it is more 'Was the war necessary and was it handled properly?'