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LOUISVILLE'S OWN HEART & VOICE IN IRAQ: DOUG JOHNSON |
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LOUISVILLE'S OWN HEART & VOICE IN IRAQ: DOUG JOHNSON |
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HISTORY, CULTURE & POLITICAL LINKS
Doug's Iraq Journey for students
THIRD PILLAR OF ISLAM:
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Sunday, March 2, 2003---Day
10 This morning at our affinity group meeting, we did our customary "check in," where we go around the room and have everybody share about how they're doing. I shared that I'm scared at times and that I worry I'm not doing enough. I'm surrounded by highly competent, long-term activists like Charlie Liteky (he did a live interview last night on CNN), photo journalists, etc., and I sometimes fall into the trap of comparing myself to them. It's not that I don't do anything here. I do, but still… Others shared similar concerns, and Trish said something that really hit home. She said that Western (US) culture is so centered on "doing" rather than "being," that people in the states are considered commodities that are valued only if they produce or are a vehicle for somebody else's production. Later she and I had lunch and she expounded further, saying that one thing she likes about Arab culture is its emphasis on "being." She spoke of the pillars of Islam, specifically the pillar "generosity," the idea that the rich have an obligation to take care of the poor, that if the poor go hungry or homeless, the rich are the ones who are shamed. She went so far as to say that even George Bush, if he were penniless and hungry, would be taken into most homes and fed despite their hatred for him. People are valued for being people, not for what they do or don't do. I suggest that this "pillar" is perceived as a threat to the US. Along the same line, I agree with Noam Chomsky who says that the US has consistently and systematically targeted countries that are nationalistic, reject US hegemony and offer an alternative model that would be attractive to Third World developing countries and entice them to also reject US domination. I'm not saying that Iraq necessarily fits that model, nor am I saying that Islamic culture is what sets Iraq apart, but this is a country where people take care of each other, which is a very powerful force. Iraq is not perfect by any means. Nor is the US. But before the Gulf War and 12 years of sanctions, Iraq was prosperous and the wealth was more equitably distributed than in the US. They had a great educational system and one of the best health care systems in the world. Even now, long after the US had hoped to annihilate their culture and starve Iraq into submission - thereby demonstrating to the world that resisting US absorption is not a viable model, Iraq survives with dignity. For example, their food rationing system is equitable and highly efficient (each family gets the equivalent of $25.00/month in food subsidies - which equals eight times the monthly salary of a school teacher.) Left to prosper of their own abundant natural resources - without being demonized and portrayed as radical terrorists by the US propaganda machine, then bombed continuously, isolated from the world, starved and deprived of everything needed to live with dignity, Iraq would be a formidable economic presence (as it was on it's way to becoming before). It might serve as a model that other Third World countries - ones that now suffer under US domination - would aspire to emulate. When George says that he wants to attack Iraq to "protect America's way of life," this is what he really means (although he may not even know it, because he's not the one really running the show in the US). Any rational person, however, knows that the "model" theory is secondary when it pertains to Iraq. The real issue is oil. America has always wanted control over the world's oil, now the Bush regime thinks it sees an opening, and once the fields are corporate owned, the war will be won, they think. But they didn't count on the awakening of a new world peace movement to throw a wrench in their war machine. |
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Amaria Bomb Shelter photo by Doug Hostetter |
Monday, March 3, 2003---Day 11 I visited the Soldiers’ Museum and the Amaria Shelter this morning. The Soldiers’ Museum turned out to be an exhibit of guns, military uniforms, medals, etc., instead of what I thought it was - the Iran/Iraq war memorial, Iraq’s version of the Vietnam Wall. Guns and uniforms are not really my thing, but Amaria turned out to be extraordinary. On February 13, 1991 at 4:30 AM (Iraq time), the US military bombed a shelter where they knew innocent civilians were sleeping. Two bombs were launched. The first one penetrated several feet of steel-reinforced concrete, killing all those who occupied the upper level of the shelter. The second bomb, referred to here as the “burner bomb,” entered the ventilation system and caused the interior temperature to rise to over 400 degrees centigrade, killing those who slept below. Four hundred and eight people, mostly women and children, were killed. To put out the fire, water was poured into the facility, where it pooled into the lower level to a depth of around five feet, leaving a distinct watermark. But a closer examination showed that this mark was more than just from water. The victims’ bodies, incinerated in the blast, were reduced to ashes and charred tissue, which was carried by the water to the lower level where it remained clinging to the walls after the water drained away. What’s left of Amaria now serves as a living memorial for these victims. While I was there, a group of talented actors performed a dramatic reenactment that captured the horror and outrage that Iraqis (and much of the world) felt that day. Afterwards, a television crew from Baghdad (that happened to be there) interviewed me. They asked how I felt and what I thought after visiting Amaria. I told them that it’s one thing to think abstractly about a bombing that occurs thousands of miles away, but it’s another to see remains of the bodies and see pictures of babies who were killed. I added that the US media refers to these babies as “collateral damage,” which dehumanizes them and makes them no more than disposable debris. The war machine has to dehumanize these babies, because if we could see the faces of those we choose to kill, we the people would stop choosing to kill. What I didn’t say in the interview is that to intentionally target civilians during war is a violation of international law… a war crime. Afterwards, Intesar Al Samarie, the manager of Amaria, invited me to her office where I signed a guest register and we chatted.
Tuesday, March 4, 2003---Day 12
In our affinity
group meeting this morning we again dealt with war-preparedness.
Concerned that we're dragging our feet, I suggested we do a tour of the
hotel basement - our bomb shelter in the event of war, everyone agreed,
and a committee was selected to do the inspection. I went with Ed, Trish,
and Betty Jo, and the kinds of things we looked for were: size and
capacity, number of exits, soundness of construction, height, ventilation,
dampness on floors, toilet facilities, bedding, and general livability.
Most importantly we wanted to know how to get there quickly, and what
could we put in the basement now that would save time when the moment
comes, and/or make our long-term stay there more bearable. |
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Wednesday, March 5, 2003---Day 13 I went with Trish and Muhammad (our driver) this afternoon to see the Monument of the Martyrs, an enormous structure honoring the Iraqi soldiers that died in the war with Iran. From a half-mile away as we approached the site, we saw a blue sphere, shaped like an upside-down heart, broken into two parts, forever divided.
Once we arrived, we passed through a gate into a one hundred yard marble court leading to the monument. We passed two Iraqi soldiers along the way that were happy to pose for photographs. At the base of the upside-down broken heart was a fountain that filled a basin, which overflowed into a waterfall that landed one level below. The stairs we descended wrapped around the waterfall and led us to a dimly lit, subdued, marble interior, where a wall loomed before us.
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