The day was Monday 17, time was 10 p.m., but the year was 2003. Sitting close to the radio, I was listening to the news on the BBC. Silence filled out the room. My mother and sister were like me, concentrating on every word. The news was about the coming war.
“Bush had declared to the Iraqi people ‘the day of your liberation is near.’”, the BBC anchor said quoting George Bush’s words to the Iraqi people three days before the war. A moment of silence and a sigh followed. “It is going to happen. There is no way out,” I told my anxious mother.
For us, war is not only a word. It's destruction, killings, more suffering and sorrow. The war with Iran, the Second Gulf war and its aftermath uprsing caused a lot of pain and a negative image of the west inside Iraqis’ hearts.
After hearing Bush’s statement, we had to be completely ready. Windows were X-taped, water filled every pot, glass and bottle, can food filled the store, and bread, eggs, chicken, meat, bottled water, tomatoes, cucumber, and other stuff filled our old refrigerator and freezer. The cabinets contained piles of tea, sugar, and salt bags. Our house’s backyard was lined up with propane cylinders and kerosene for heaters and stoves.
During that time, my father was in Libya. He left the country in 2000 to work there as an English professor. His salary, like all Iraqi teachers and professors, did not exceed $1.5 per month, whereas he was paid $600 there. He called everyday and was very careful in what he said as anything he hints might take us all to jail. All telephones were wire tapped. He was so worried. I told him not to worry. “It’s not the first war we go through, dad,” I told him. Silence followed by him saying he wish he was there with us in these hard times. “Don’t worry. We’ll be fine. Just pray for us."
The next day, I went to college to bid everyone farewell. We might not see each other again. This was a war. Nothing was guaranteed. My sister did the same. In the afternoon, the telephone rang. It was my aunt. “Can we come and stay in your house?” she asked my mother. We accepted, of course. They live near the airport! My aunt has two daughters, one of them is married and the other is not. My cousin’s husband has to join the army as he was summoned for the military service at the time. I felt a big responsibility, to be frank. I was responsible for five women. In Iraq, if there is a man, he should be the one protecting and supporting them. However, Iraqi women reflected their utmost bravery in such conditions. My aunt for instance, lost her husband in 1982 when Saddam executed him and his brothers just because their father was born in Iran.
On the 19th, I decided to go out with a friend of mine to see Baghdad at night. Although I am not that religious, I felt I need to visit the Kadhimiya Shrine. My friend, who is a Sunni, and I took the last tour in Baghdad before the war. We went to Adhamiya, the Sunni neighborhood and then Kadhimiya, the Shiite one. It was dark, not because there was no electricity, but because all the shops were closed and no civilian could be seen in the streets. There were just checkpoints set up by armed Baathists and olive-color-uniformed of policemen. By 7 pm, the streets were quiet. We were the only ones driving. “M, do you see? It is dead. Baghdad has died,” a tear dropped on my cheek secretly in the darkness without letting M see it.
When we arrived to Kadhimiya, which is across the river from Adhamiya, the scene looked the same and only the green light of the main gate of the Kadhimiya shrine was glowing. I needed to stop and enter the shrine to pray, but I changed my mind as it was already late. I did not want to make my mother scared more than she was.
By the time, we returned back to our neighborhood, I farewelled my friend. We promised to call each other everyday to make sure everyone is still alive. My mother, aunt, sister and cousins were all sitting in the living room which was surrounded with empty white, newly pained walls. We removed everything breakable from these walls in case they fall and break when a rocket falls here or there. The state TV stations were not mentioning anything about the war, as if nothing would happen. I remember one TV station broadcasting a movie by Vandam! So I decided to turn on the radio. This time, the news came from Radio Mont Carlo, an Arabic-speaking radio station broadcasting in France. My father’s old Panasonic radio set was in my lap. I was listening to all the news about Iraq. It is the time for war, the news said. We surrendered. Nothing we can do, just to wait and see what will happen.
While I was listening to the news, I had a mixed and strange feeling. “How do these forces look like?” I asked myself. What will they do? Will they break into our houses and kill us? Do they look like the Israeli heavily-equipped soldiers? Are they enemies invading my country? Did they come to kill us and destroy everything to get rid of Saddam? These are the photos I could have in my mind at the time.Then, the picture of the previous two wars flashed back into my mind. The vision of the Baathists chasing my father from house to house to force him join the battle against Iran woke me up. I was confused. Whom should I support? The Americans, Saddam, or Iraq? I hid this confusion in my heart as I was taught not to say any such feeling in public as it might cause to my entire family’s execution. I turned off the radio, locked all the doors and windows and fled to the shelter room we had prepared. No place for beds was available. We had lined-up matrices. I had put the telephone next to my pillow in case something happens and I can not go to the living room to bring it. We expected to be locked in this shelter for days.
At 5:30 a.m., the war has officially started. “wake up, wake up,” my mother shouted to wake all of us. “Siren,” she said. By the time, I wasn’t even asleep. I heard it clearly but did not want to scare them and wake them up. Huh! They were all awake, I discovered. None of us was sleeping. I looked into my mother’s face. It was pale and full of fear and pain. Pulling the Quran, she started reading. By every Booom we hear, her voice goes louder. “Allahu Akbar”, she screamed. The sounds of explosions were so scary. They were like when we heard them in 1991.
Shortly after the start of war, my other aunt called and said Iraqi tanks had been located in front of their house to attack the Americans when they reach the airport road. I told her to come with her two children and she did until the battle reached our neighborhood. My aunt’s husband came to take us to his house where the battled was over. We refused at the beginning. We did not want to leave our house. My sister and mother were sobbing. “I don’t want to leave our house. We grew up here and we will die here,” my sister said with tears washing her face. By this time, we were able to see warplanes bombing locations near the neighborhood..
We had no other choice but to leave. A few families remained in the neighborhood. everybody was leaving. I took all our documents and money in case we never return to our house and then went to my aunt’s house, the one living near the airport. My uncle was driving. He drove in the canal road which was full of families walking to an unknown destination fleeing the bombings that may take their lives. Iraqi army soldiers were lined up along the canal road waiting for the enemy to shoot and kill. My mother was crying all the way to my aunt’s house imaging all the poor soldiers being killed one after the other.
This is one of the million stories that were not told. This is how we woke up everyday during the war. This is how we lived, talked, and cried.
When Saddam’s statue was downed, I was stunned. Oh my God! Saddam is gone. We are free. Yes, we are free. The Americans liberated us. I was so happy. A huge burden was removed. We can work, study, have fun, and live like others. I did not expect that I was too optimistic to the extent that I believed what was said. When I first saw the US army in the streets, I said these are the ones who broke all the locks that Saddam and his gang have imprisoned us with. I didn’t know that the locks coming later are bigger and much bigger than Saddam’s.
Three years have passed. I feel so disappointed. I thought this war was the last as we were told and promised. I did not expect it would be the opposite, the beginning. But what beginning? beginning of horror, fear, civil war, destruction, and death.
I wonder how long this will last. Happy War Anniversary!
“Bush had declared to the Iraqi people ‘the day of your liberation is near.’”, the BBC anchor said quoting George Bush’s words to the Iraqi people three days before the war. A moment of silence and a sigh followed. “It is going to happen. There is no way out,” I told my anxious mother.
For us, war is not only a word. It's destruction, killings, more suffering and sorrow. The war with Iran, the Second Gulf war and its aftermath uprsing caused a lot of pain and a negative image of the west inside Iraqis’ hearts.
After hearing Bush’s statement, we had to be completely ready. Windows were X-taped, water filled every pot, glass and bottle, can food filled the store, and bread, eggs, chicken, meat, bottled water, tomatoes, cucumber, and other stuff filled our old refrigerator and freezer. The cabinets contained piles of tea, sugar, and salt bags. Our house’s backyard was lined up with propane cylinders and kerosene for heaters and stoves.
During that time, my father was in Libya. He left the country in 2000 to work there as an English professor. His salary, like all Iraqi teachers and professors, did not exceed $1.5 per month, whereas he was paid $600 there. He called everyday and was very careful in what he said as anything he hints might take us all to jail. All telephones were wire tapped. He was so worried. I told him not to worry. “It’s not the first war we go through, dad,” I told him. Silence followed by him saying he wish he was there with us in these hard times. “Don’t worry. We’ll be fine. Just pray for us."
The next day, I went to college to bid everyone farewell. We might not see each other again. This was a war. Nothing was guaranteed. My sister did the same. In the afternoon, the telephone rang. It was my aunt. “Can we come and stay in your house?” she asked my mother. We accepted, of course. They live near the airport! My aunt has two daughters, one of them is married and the other is not. My cousin’s husband has to join the army as he was summoned for the military service at the time. I felt a big responsibility, to be frank. I was responsible for five women. In Iraq, if there is a man, he should be the one protecting and supporting them. However, Iraqi women reflected their utmost bravery in such conditions. My aunt for instance, lost her husband in 1982 when Saddam executed him and his brothers just because their father was born in Iran.
On the 19th, I decided to go out with a friend of mine to see Baghdad at night. Although I am not that religious, I felt I need to visit the Kadhimiya Shrine. My friend, who is a Sunni, and I took the last tour in Baghdad before the war. We went to Adhamiya, the Sunni neighborhood and then Kadhimiya, the Shiite one. It was dark, not because there was no electricity, but because all the shops were closed and no civilian could be seen in the streets. There were just checkpoints set up by armed Baathists and olive-color-uniformed of policemen. By 7 pm, the streets were quiet. We were the only ones driving. “M, do you see? It is dead. Baghdad has died,” a tear dropped on my cheek secretly in the darkness without letting M see it.
When we arrived to Kadhimiya, which is across the river from Adhamiya, the scene looked the same and only the green light of the main gate of the Kadhimiya shrine was glowing. I needed to stop and enter the shrine to pray, but I changed my mind as it was already late. I did not want to make my mother scared more than she was.
By the time, we returned back to our neighborhood, I farewelled my friend. We promised to call each other everyday to make sure everyone is still alive. My mother, aunt, sister and cousins were all sitting in the living room which was surrounded with empty white, newly pained walls. We removed everything breakable from these walls in case they fall and break when a rocket falls here or there. The state TV stations were not mentioning anything about the war, as if nothing would happen. I remember one TV station broadcasting a movie by Vandam! So I decided to turn on the radio. This time, the news came from Radio Mont Carlo, an Arabic-speaking radio station broadcasting in France. My father’s old Panasonic radio set was in my lap. I was listening to all the news about Iraq. It is the time for war, the news said. We surrendered. Nothing we can do, just to wait and see what will happen.
While I was listening to the news, I had a mixed and strange feeling. “How do these forces look like?” I asked myself. What will they do? Will they break into our houses and kill us? Do they look like the Israeli heavily-equipped soldiers? Are they enemies invading my country? Did they come to kill us and destroy everything to get rid of Saddam? These are the photos I could have in my mind at the time.Then, the picture of the previous two wars flashed back into my mind. The vision of the Baathists chasing my father from house to house to force him join the battle against Iran woke me up. I was confused. Whom should I support? The Americans, Saddam, or Iraq? I hid this confusion in my heart as I was taught not to say any such feeling in public as it might cause to my entire family’s execution. I turned off the radio, locked all the doors and windows and fled to the shelter room we had prepared. No place for beds was available. We had lined-up matrices. I had put the telephone next to my pillow in case something happens and I can not go to the living room to bring it. We expected to be locked in this shelter for days.
At 5:30 a.m., the war has officially started. “wake up, wake up,” my mother shouted to wake all of us. “Siren,” she said. By the time, I wasn’t even asleep. I heard it clearly but did not want to scare them and wake them up. Huh! They were all awake, I discovered. None of us was sleeping. I looked into my mother’s face. It was pale and full of fear and pain. Pulling the Quran, she started reading. By every Booom we hear, her voice goes louder. “Allahu Akbar”, she screamed. The sounds of explosions were so scary. They were like when we heard them in 1991.
Shortly after the start of war, my other aunt called and said Iraqi tanks had been located in front of their house to attack the Americans when they reach the airport road. I told her to come with her two children and she did until the battle reached our neighborhood. My aunt’s husband came to take us to his house where the battled was over. We refused at the beginning. We did not want to leave our house. My sister and mother were sobbing. “I don’t want to leave our house. We grew up here and we will die here,” my sister said with tears washing her face. By this time, we were able to see warplanes bombing locations near the neighborhood..
We had no other choice but to leave. A few families remained in the neighborhood. everybody was leaving. I took all our documents and money in case we never return to our house and then went to my aunt’s house, the one living near the airport. My uncle was driving. He drove in the canal road which was full of families walking to an unknown destination fleeing the bombings that may take their lives. Iraqi army soldiers were lined up along the canal road waiting for the enemy to shoot and kill. My mother was crying all the way to my aunt’s house imaging all the poor soldiers being killed one after the other.
This is one of the million stories that were not told. This is how we woke up everyday during the war. This is how we lived, talked, and cried.
When Saddam’s statue was downed, I was stunned. Oh my God! Saddam is gone. We are free. Yes, we are free. The Americans liberated us. I was so happy. A huge burden was removed. We can work, study, have fun, and live like others. I did not expect that I was too optimistic to the extent that I believed what was said. When I first saw the US army in the streets, I said these are the ones who broke all the locks that Saddam and his gang have imprisoned us with. I didn’t know that the locks coming later are bigger and much bigger than Saddam’s.
Three years have passed. I feel so disappointed. I thought this war was the last as we were told and promised. I did not expect it would be the opposite, the beginning. But what beginning? beginning of horror, fear, civil war, destruction, and death.
I wonder how long this will last. Happy War Anniversary!
18 Comments:
I looked into my mother’s face. It was pale and full of fear and pain. Pulling the Quran, she started reading. By every Booom we hear, her voice goes louder. “Allahu Akbar”, she screamed.
I am sorry we put your dear mother through such fear.
Three years have passed. I feel so disappointed.
Hopefully you Iraqis will figure out how to build a modern society with justice and peace for all.
BT,
Thanks. That is a very well-written, honest account of those first days of the war in 2003. In an old IBC post I collected other Iraqi voices like yours recounting those days.
War and Its Discontents.
*
BT,
It’s funny how different the way you and your family thought of the war from what I was thinking. When the war was nearing, I was very optimistic. The way I thought about it was IT IS THE ONLY WAY OUT. IF IT DOESN’T WORK, WE’LL GO BACK TO NORMAL LIFE. For me, the war was unquestionable. We needed it. I waited for the coalition forces to enter Baghdad, because at that time I thought the sooner they come means the sooner we are done with it. We used to gather at my uncle’s every night. I remember we used to watch al-Alam and al-Arabiya satellite channels to track the coalition forces down and see how many days it takes to meet them. It took them too long, compared to what we heard in the news of progress in taking down the Fidayeen. We used to joke and say “if they were on camels, they would be here now. What is taking them so long?” I was frustrated, for different reasons, that I woke up everyday and didn’t see the “liberators.” But when they came in, I shook hands with them!
Original Jeff,
Thanks for your feelings. Thank God that my mother overcame the pain and sorrow she went through during the war. however, she never forgets that feeling.
As you said, we should be able to rebuild our country. Others were not able to do it. So we, ourselves, should do it. I really hope that one day Iraq returns to its modern shape like in the 60s and 70s when Baghdad was one of the most beautiful cities in the Middle East and when Iraq was one of the industrial countries that exports more than imports.
24,
I know you had had this feeling. And as I said, I had part of this feeling inside me as I said, “When Saddam’s statue was downed, I was stunned. Oh my God! Saddam is gone. We are free. Yes, we are free. The Americans liberated us. I was so happy. A huge burden was removed. We can work, study, have fun, and live like others.”
But eventually, I felt disappointed as I mentioned because we were so dreamy to the extent that we believed America will take us to the new world, the world of industrial and economical flourish. Here we are now, freed but destroyed and torn! However, we need to think about it and collect the torn pieces.
Yo BT,
Never give up. truth and goodness usually wins. Do your job well, keep speaking for truth.
Gopal
Thank you for posting this excellent article. I can only hope and pray that soon there will be Peace and order In Iraq and no foriegn soldiers there.
Salam
Dawn Prayers
from the Qur'an
Ross (1649)"in the way of them that thou hast gratified; against whom thou has not been displeased, and we shall not be misled."
Sale (1734) "in the way of those to whom thou has been gracious;"and of those against whom thou art incensed, nor of those who go astray.
Rodwell (1861) "The path to whom Thou hast been gracious; with whom Thou art not angry, and who go not astray. "
Amir-Ali (1974) "The path of those whom Thou dost bless, those who do not Thee displease, those who do not go astray."
And from the Bible:
"I am the good shepherd; Iknow my sheep and my sheep know me--just as the Father knows me and I know the Father--and I lay my life down for the sheep, I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life--only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father."
(John 10:11-18)
These two Speakers speak with the same voice, different dimensions of the same message. Guidance and sacrifice, love and courage, Justice and forgiveness. knowledge and illumination. That was the conclusion of Sura Fatihah. Truly a fountain of living water that will nourish us in all the worlds of God. I must admit that I am concerned, now that through reading the blogs of Shia and Sunni Iraqi day after day, that this division will contine to split apart Islam long after Iraq had unified. It seems like a ripple has been started by Mr. Bush. He is not an agent of Satan or of God. Yet everything he does is by the will of God. You and I have some differencies. But I think we can all agree it is probably the same in all countries; we do not choose our religion it is given to us by our society, by our parents instruction. We usually do not have a chance to ask questions, "Why,,,,this?" or Why....that?" To question is considered an act of disloyalty to God, as if God wanted us not to use our brains. As if by asking questions of the man-made divisions in Christianity, in Islam, in Buddhism, and almost all of the other world religions, one is attacking belief in God. So now, because of the actions of Pres. Bush, I wonder if there is some effect that will either unite or destroy Islam? But I don't mean the Qur'an. I mean the Islam created by the mullas...So you may be thinking, What about Christianity, the West, England, Japan, esp. America, and all the other countries (well not that many ;^). Surely a Merciful God and a God of Justice has heard the crying, the suffering, the voices of the innocent. Of course, we are all tied together. If I am a kidney and you are a lung, what affects me, affects you, and what affects you will eventually affect me (and I left the United States ;-). We are all part of the same family. I honestly don't know what will be the spiritual washback effects on esp. the US and UK. I have read various scenarios on possible physical effects on Juan Cole web site. But no one that I know of has speculated on spiritual effects. You see I believe the physical world is modeled after the spiritual world, not the other way around. So what is happening in Iraq happens first in mankind's spiritual existence, and then it springs forth here. I am not aware of the first effects in the spiritual world, because I am pretty much like the average Joe, who pays as much attention (if any!) to his spiritual life as an obese boozer pays attention to Olympic preparations. That is why I have blogged on this site. My dawn prayers are questions to God about what will happen?
BT, very well expressed, Bush also said mission accomplished, but its become increasingly clear that he had no idea what the mission was or what he hoped to accomplish...this alcohol abusing coward skipped military service for Republican cocktail parties and had the nerve to wear a flight suit...during that marionette show!!!
America continues to destroy your country and murder innocents...theres an empty seat in Hague...time to try Bush for war crimes and demand billions of dollars in reparations!!
Dawn Prayers.
A time for celebration! on a small scale, some fruit, prayers, a small bouqet of flowers on the kitchen table await the other members of my family who come down for breakfast later.
from the Bible
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you; For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks the door will be opened."
(Matthew 7:7-8)
And from the Qur'an
"Say thou; "Just imagine; if Allah were to shroud you in perpetual darkness till the day of reckoning, what deity, beside the Deity, could give you light? Have ye no ears to hear?" Say thou: "Think ye once again; if Allah were to inflict on you perpetual day until the day of reckoning, what deity, beside the Deity, could bring to you the night for you to rest therein? Have ye no eyes to see?" Sura #28(Qasas: 71-72)
I have greatly enjoyed this month of study in comparison of the Qur'an and the Bible. I have done alot of reading in both books which I hadn't done in a long time until now. This has given a calming and serene start to my days. I am one of those soft middle class members who only in this season arises before dawn to eat and then say prayers. So I believe our future will eventually find light. Hnk's blog has a picture of just a few blooming spring flowers. Truly this is what God, what Allah has given us as a sign of hope. Good morning! the morning comes always after the darkness, and a time of rest concludes the day, I guess this is why I closed with the two verses from Sura Qasas.
Thank you for another moving post BT. For giving us a glimpse of your sacrifice.
I have of course linked to your post. I have also linked to an interview with an American Soldier who is serving in Iraq there and offer my own thoughts. Please read it.
I will mirror my thoughts for you here.
BT I can only offer hope for the future and these words of solidarity and encouragement as I know more people you care about will suffer and die before this war is over.
We are not ignoring you any longer my friend. Please do not push away the people who desperately want to help you. People I care about will also suffer and die. No doubt more sacrifice will be required of you, please do not forget that others are sacrificing for you as well. I know this has not always been the case but today Americans, Italians, Poles, British, Australians, and others, are dying for your freedom. This is the opportunity of your lifetime. To live free to live in peace. Do not waste it.
History is calling on the people of Iraq. Freedom needs the people of Iraq to be strong. The people of the Middle East need your resolve. The world needs you to be heroes.
The grandfathers of my country paid that price for me. Their forefathers before them paid that price for them and today we are free, we are safe. In fact many of us are spoiled and have forgotten the terrible price that freedom requires.
What will your children’s children say about this time BT? Will they say that you and your brother Iraqi’s faced the fascists and paid a terrible price to defeat them and win our freedom? Or will they say we live under the thumb of fascists today because our forefathers faltered?
Although we have not known each other long BT I believe I know your heart. I know you will not falter. Do not let the people of Iraq falter.
History has chosen you and the people of Iraq to make this stand now. How will you answer the call of history?
I would like to 2nd The Ugly American in what he said in response to your moving essay.
Hang in there!
Iraq, without Saddam, IS, and will continue to grow into, a far better place than under Saddam.
Its time to leave Iraq and take a long break from the politics and the middle east. We're incapable of assisting in managing their country, especially since we dont fully understand the complex interactions between islam and their politics. One thing Bush was right about in his state of the union is that we need to find other sources of fuel. It is the only way we can dissociate ourselves from middle east politics. Hopefully one day, somehow miraculously we will no longer have to rely on Middle East oil. We obviously have spurned their hatred upon us, and it is now time to give in to their wishes and leave them alone, it is the only way our country can live with their region peacefully in this world. THe billions and billions of taxpayer dollars spent on this war need to be spend fixing our serious domestic issues. We can also be spending that money boosting up our homeland security, and we should be creating more stringent restrictions on visitors from the middle east. From the multiple Iraqi blogs i have read, it is clear we are no longer welcome, we are seen as intruders and not as friends, and it is now time to leave them to sort out their problems in the way they desire to.
I’d like to thank all of you guys for your sincere and kind feelings. At the same time, I’d like to offer my condolences to the families and relatives of the slain civilians in Haditha. The outcome of wars is always costly.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1174682,00.html
"Freedom....is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom, and then lost it, have never known it again."
Ronald Reagan, 1967
After suffering decades under a viciously barbaric totalitarian regime, Iraqis now have the freedom to accept their own responsibilty in protecting and defending their own shining light upon their hill.
Just because I was born American does not entitle me to freedom's gifts, I am responsible for tending and defending the light that was fought by ordinary people some 200 years ago in bloody battles across my land all for the belief that all people can live free from oppressive totalitarian tyranny.
Iraqis fighting this battle today, and those who have given their noble lives, are those very same ordinary people who fought and died over two centuries ago.
What your generation is willing to sacrifice for building a free and just society will determine whether your shining light upon your hill will shine or extinquish.
I give thanks to all Iraqis for teaching me the lesson that Democracy is a process not a result. You have reminded me of so much I had once taken for granted.
BT,
I was very very moved by your writing. Allah ye7fathak, akhuy, you and your family inshallah.
But unfortunately, it will not end.
When Iraqis protested at the illegal invasion and occupation of their country, we were told that the US military would remove itself once requested to do so by the Iraqi people.
This was accepted by a few Iraqis who believed that the US campaigns in Iraq were to remove the regime of Saddam Hussein, instill democracy, and leave the sovereign, independent notion.
This was the furthest possible from the truth.
When the tragedy of the Askariya bombings moved Iraqis to imagine a civil war in their steets and neighborhoods, US military planners and Pentagon strategists gave press releases to the media that the recent violence could derail US plans to begin withdrawing by the end of 2006.
Convenient.
I have heard from many a pro-war pundit that the US will leave as soon as it is asked to by the Iraqi government. Missing from this and related arguments is that the politicians in the Iraqi government came in riding US tanks and were endorsed by the US as part of Bremer's Iraq Governing Council in 2003.
Same names, same tactics, same allegiances, and same backers (US on the one side, Iran on the other).
Is it believable to entertain the idea that US-appointed Iraqi leaders would ask the US to leave?
Erm ... no.
Therefore, it is no surprise to read that the US has not only built huge military complexes for its troops in Iraq, but started to expand on them as well.
Take the account of embed Charles J. Hanley, writing for the Associated Press:
The concrete goes on forever, vanishing into the noonday glare, 56,000 cubic metres of it, a slab a kilometre and a half long that's now the home of up to 120 U.S. helicopters — a "heli-park" as good as any back in the United States.
At another giant base, Al-Asad in Iraq's western desert, the 17,000 troops and workers come and go in a kind of bustling American town, with a Burger King, Pizza Hut and a car dealership, stop signs, traffic regulations and young bikers clogging the roads.
At a third hub down south, Tallil, they're planning a new mess hall, one that will seat 6,000 hungry airmen and soldiers for chow.
Are the Americans in Iraq to stay? Air force mechanic Josh Remy is sure of it as he looks around Balad.
Reading further, we find:
Al-Asad will become even more isolated. The proposed 2006 supplemental budget for Iraq operations would provide $7.4 million to extend the no-man's-land and build new security fencing around the base, which at 49 square kilometres is so large that many assigned there take the Yellow or Blue bus routes to get around the base, or buy bicycles at a PX jammed with customers.
The latest budget also allots $39 million for new airfield lighting, air traffic control systems and upgrades allowing Al-Asad to plug into the Iraqi electricity grid — a typical sign of a long-term base.
At Tallil, besides the new $14 million dining facility, Ali Air Base is to get, for $22 million, a double perimeter security fence with high-tech gate controls, guard towers and a moat — in military parlance, a "vehicle entrapment ditch with berm."
Here at Balad, the former Iraqi air force academy 60 kilometres north of Baghdad, the two 3,600-metre runways have become the logistics hub for all U.S. military operations in Iraq, and major upgrades began last year.
Army engineers say 31,000 truckloads of sand and gravel fed nine concrete-mixing plants on Balad, as contractors laid a $16 million ramp to park the air force's huge C-5 cargo planes; an $18 million ramp for workhorse C-130 transports; and the vast, $28 million main helicopter ramp, the length of 13 football fields, filled with attack, transport and reconnaissance helicopters.
Turkish builders are pouring tonnes more concrete for a fourth ramp beside the runways, for medical-evacuation and other aircraft on alert. And $25 million was approved for other "pavement projects," from a special road for munitions trucks to a compound for special forces.
The chief air force engineer here, Lt.-Col. Scott Hoover, is also overseeing two crucial projects to add to Balad's longevity: equipping the two runways with new permanent lighting, and replacing a weak one-kilometre-long section of one runway.
Once that's fixed, "we're good for as long as we need to run it," Hoover said. Ten years? he was asked. "I'd say so."
Away from the flight lines, among traffic jams and freshly planted palms, life improves on 36-square-kilometre Balad for its estimated 25,000 personnel, including several thousand American and other civilians.
They've inherited an Olympic-sized pool and a chandeliered cinema from the Iraqis. They can order their favourite Baskin-Robbins flavour at ice cream counters in five dining halls, and cut-rate Fords, Chevys or Harley-Davidsons, for delivery at home, at a PX-run "dealership."
On one recent evening, not far from a big 24-hour gym, airmen hustled up and down two full-length basketball courts as F-16 fighters thundered home overhead.
CD stores, slush puppies stand, a car dealership, gyms, basketball courts, American ice cream, Burger King, Pizza Hut - doesn't this sound like a colony to you?
And what's more. These bases are prototypes for other bases which may be used to install US missile defence systems to counter Iran's ballistic missiles programs.
Very, very interesting.
But wait, there is more.
Taking questions from reporters on Tuesday, US President George Bush said any decision to withdraw from Iraq would be made "by future presidents and future governments of Iraq."
Notice the plural. And isn't it appropriate that Bush decides for the Iraqis when they can "ask" for US troops to leave the country.
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