ghotir
12.02.05, 18:32
dyskusje o iraku wydaja sie cieszyc duzym powodzeniem. ciekaw jestem co
myslicie o tekscie zamieszczonym ponizej. autor jest mloda kobieta, wychowana
w stanach; ma wyzsze wyksztalcenie w komputerach (bagdan university). obecnie
mieszka w bagdadzie. od poczatku okupacji prowadzi pamietnik, ktory mozna
znalezc wpisujac do wyszukiwarki slowo >riverbend<.
And Life Goes On...
Saturday, February 12, 2005
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 (Badir?s 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) didn?t vote. My cousin, who is
Shia, didn?t vote because he felt he didn?t 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. He?s a secular, educated, non-occupation
Iraqi before he?s Sunni or Shia- he?s more concerned with having someone who
wants to end the occupation than someone Shia.
We?re hearing about various strange happenings at different voting areas. They
say that several areas in northern Iraq (some Assyrian and other Christian
areas) weren?t 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
there?s talk of Badir?s Brigade people having bought the ballots to vote, and
while the people of Falloojeh weren?t allowed to vote, people say that the
identities of Falloojans were temporarily ?borrowed? for voting purposes. The
stories are endless.
In spite of that, we?re 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 won?t 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, they?re
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 Da?awa and
SCIRI. Student representatives in colleges and universities these days mainly
come from the above mentioned parties. They harass Christian and Muslim girls
about what they should and shouldn?t 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 Prophet?s 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
cousin?s wife wanted to have her college degree legalized by the ministry and
my cousin wasn?t 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. ?Da?awachi,? my
cousin whispered under his breath, indicating the man was from the Da?awa
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 don?t like being told
what to wear and what not to wear by strange men. ?I don?t work here- I don?t
have to follow a dress code.? I answered coldly. The cousin didn?t like where
the conversation was going, he angrily interceded, ?We?re only here for an
hour and it really isn?t 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
didn?t have to listen. You could answer back. Now, you only answer
