Iraqis who feel forgotten weigh in on US elections

Sarah Price
YourMiddleEast.com, November 2012

Since the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq in December 2011, US politics as a regular topic of conversation among Iraqis has waned.

Conversations in clubs and cafés, which used to revolve largely around US politics and the involvement between the two countries, have now turned to matters of Iraqi security and political issues, which are widely believed to have grown worse since the withdrawal.

The United States has played a large role in Iraq since Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent war. But Washington and Baghdad became allies after the 2003 overthrow of the Ba'ath Party regime, and the political involvement between the two countries has been designed to continue this on path.

However, some Iraqis are skeptical since the withdrawal and are growing more hopeless that the rebuilding of their country that they felt had been promised will not happen at all now, and that maybe their best interests are not being considered.

Many now feel deserted by the US, citing their continued lack of infrastructure, jobs and security as a sign that they have been left with a mess they can't fix, and a formidable foe next door, against whom they cannot defend themselves alone.

"Iraq has a weak government now, so the outcome of the American election tells the future of our country,” says Dara Jabar, a Kurd from Erbil. “The next American president will say whether Iraq becomes a strong, independent country, or whether our neighbor countries have power over us.”

High school teacher Yussief al-Jbouri finds US foreign policy to be weak regarding this issue, and wants to see a change, regardless of who takes office next.

“My biggest fear is that the next American president will be as weak as Obama was toward foreign policy,” he says, “and that Iran will have a way to dominate us. They want our country, they want to limit Sunni power, and they want us as a backyard to do whatever they want.”

Adnan al-Sarag, a former military officer, agrees that the limits on Iran have not been strong enough, but thinks Pres. Obama can do a good job, if there is more focus on Iraq's economy and independence.

“I hope we can build a strong economic relationship with the US, so we can rebuild our country,” he says.

Preference from Sunnis in the north and west leans toward Governor Mitt Romney as the next US president, as many of them believe he will limit Iranian power in Iraq.

Romney says he wants to back Israel's use of force to stop Iran's nuclear armament, while Obama wants to engage in talks with them. Many are worried that Iraq is going to become a war field between Iran, Israel, and the US.

In the meantime, many Iraqis just want to see that the US is on their side.

“We don't want more destruction to our country,” says al-Jbouri. “But right now, there is no one to help us.”

Nizar Latif contributed to this report from Baghdad

Scars of War Lead to Depression and Drug Abuse Among Iraqi Women

By Sarah Price

YourMiddleEast.com, October 2012

Decades of violence in Iraq have taken their toll on the country and its citizens, leading many to do things out of necessity for survival that otherwise would never be an option.

For some men this means joining militant groups because they pay when there is no other work to be found, while women may have to turn to prostitution to help support their families.

But for most women, the threat of violence on the streets has made them prisoners in their own homes, with little contact outside of their families. The religious and tribal norms make it very difficult to talk about, much less get help for, the depression many of them now suffer. As a consequence, drugs have become an underground escape.

Areej Mohan is a 33-year-old housewife. Although married for five years, she has no children and finds herself alone most of the time. Her husband doesn't allow her much time with family and friends, and the feelings of loneliness and forced solitude have led to depression, and about a year ago, drug addiction. The advice of her family is to stay in the marriage, as divorce still brings tribal and societal shame to families there.

Areej started using drugs when a friend who was also having trouble at home began using them to ease the stress, and advised her to do the same.

“I started taking the pills, but after a few months, my husband started to notice strange behavior from me, and wanted to know what was wrong,” she says. “But I refused to tell him what I was doing, and he beat me.”

Thinking she had an illness, he sent her to a doctor, who told him her behavior was the result of drug use. He put further restrictions on Areej’s time outside of the house, trying to prevent her access to more drugs. However, when he was away for long periods of time she would still find a way to get to her friends and continue taking the pills.

Areej now says that she is trying to break the addiction and get healthy, but that it is hard to do as the causes of the addiction have not changed. She still feels very lonely, like it is just her and four walls.

19-year-old Baghdad University student Hajer Raheem's drug addiction started a year and a half ago, when she was still in high school. She says it is becoming common among Iraqi girls, as they have to stay out of the public so much. The socializing that would normally relieve stress in their lives is not only unavailable as an option, but could also be dangerous.

In the past two years, Hajer lost her father and brother in separate terrorist attacks.

“My life is school and home, maybe a few friends, but nothing more,” she says. “Since I was a kid, there has been nothing but killing and terrorist action around me.”

Hajer’s mother is now the sole support for her and her three sisters. She says that since terrorism has taken her family members, drugs are the only way to forget her sorrow. When she and her friends are able to see each other, they smoke hashish and talk.

She says that people seem to think all the weight and troubles are on the men's shoulders, but that the women are carrying that too.

“We share those men's lives, and we take on more responsibilities and suffering than they do.”

Um Zaydon is a well-known dealer in some Baghdad districts, and has access to a wide variety of drugs. Because of a system of drug imports from Iran, she is also well protected by police and politicians. But when asked about this, she quickly changes the subject. Her business involves only women, selling and buying, and she says that the use is becoming more common and widespread.

“I have several hundred clients, and it is growing. I do it to help them have some happiness out of all the rough times they are going through.”

Dr. Mushtaq Talib, the director of an anti-drug program in the health ministry, says there is no reliable figure for the number of women with drug addictions, saying that due to tribal customs and traditions, it is hard to get an accurate number.

“The families often don't report it, because they believe it will bring shame and dishonor to their families and tribes,” she says. “But some women are starting to come forward, and are seeking help.”

“My whole life, I've been raised to be careful about terrorists,” says Hajer. “It has threatened me since I was a child. I believe I am going to die from a terrorist attack one day. I would rather be high when it happens, so I won't have to feel it.”

Nizar Latif contributed to this report from Baghdad

Iraq’s Security Threatened by New Al-Qaeda Tactics

by Sarah Price
YourMiddleEast.com, October 2012


Iraq's security is again under attack as al-Qaeda sets new tactics in motion, and the numbers of police and army personnel are in sharp decline. Corruption within security ranks is also adding to the system's frailty.

Suicide bombers are still being recruited for mass killings, but al-Qaeda are also now targeting specific victims within the police force and army, using weapons equipped with silencers – partly in a move to deter others from taking security jobs, and partly to weaken areas into which they intend to expand. Killing them has the added benefit of further arming al-Qaeda, because they leave with the weapons of the dead soldiers.

The militant group is also using new approaches to blend in, abandoning their usual black clothing, and using people who can get close to and be trusted by the soldiers in the areas they are trying to infiltrate, as was the case of one soldier who asked to be identified as Ali Nawar.

Nawar's unit was assigned to guard a village in Samarah, where they befriended a man they believed to be part of the tribe. Much of the food and supplies the soldiers received was being stolen by the officers, leaving the soldiers standing post hungry. The man took care of them, and fed them, and they came to like and trust him. What they didn’t know was that he was being used by al-Qaeda. One day the villager approached them with food, and as they ate, he killed them all. Nawar, who had been taking a sleep break away from the checkpoint, found them all dead around the food the assassin had brought as bait.

Corruption in the ranks is playing a part in making it easier for Al-Qaeda operatives to get to their targets. The security forces are low in numbers, and most are posted in dangerous places. Knowing the soldiers don’t want to be there, many officers demand as much as 50% of their salary to let them stay home. But because so many cannot afford to lose half or more of their pay, the majority of the work lands on the poorer Iraqis, and lengthens their work days to 12 hours or more – from their previous six-hour shifts – often with no breaks, food, or days off. Their subsequent exhaustion makes them easy prey.

Army soldier Tala Thabit was serving in western Baghdad, when an attack on his unit was carried out by a group of teenagers playing loud western music in a car. They approached, quickly killed the five soldiers guarding the checkpoint, and fled.

“Since the Americans left, things are very different,” he says. “They used to supervise all the checkpoints in the hot spots, where al-Qaeda is strongest and most active. We used to serve for six hours, with 16 soldiers at the checkpoint. But now, we have only four, because so many of the soldiers pay half of their salaries to their officers so they don’t have to serve, and we have to take on their responsibilities.”

Deciding he would rather lose money than to be in danger, Thabit tried to pay off his officer, but he was told that the payoff had gone up to 80%. Unable to part with that much, he stayed on the job.

According to Baghdad Operations Command spokesman Colonel Dhia al-Wakil, Iraqi forces have discovered and broken up many al-Qaeda workshops that are being used to build silencer-equipped guns and explosives, but it has not yet had an effect as on the number and frequency of attacks. But he does believe the raids, as well as added security at the border checkpoints, have helped to limit the number of weapons coming into the country.

A security source at the Ministry of Interior added that they are also adding trenches and speed bumps at the checkpoints, to try to reduce the ease of access.


Nizar Latif contributed to this report from Baghdad.

A Look Into Iraq’s $4.2bn Arms Deal With Russia

by Sarah Price
YourMiddleEast.com, October 2012


Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki met on October 10 with Russian President Vladimir Putin to seal a $4.2bn arms sales deal, supplying Iraq with 30 Mi-28 attack helicopters, 42 Pantsir-S1 surface-to-air missile systems, and at a later time, several MiG-29 fighters. A joint statement claims talks for the deal – which makes Russia Iraq’s second-largest arms supplier, behind the United States – have been ongoing since April.

This is the first significant military deal between the two countries since 2008. According to Konstantin Makienko, the deputy director of Russia's Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, this is a statement by Iraq to take an independent position in the region, regardless of political pressure by the United States, adding that Iraq is much more used to Russian-made weapons.

The U.S. is currently fulfilling an estimated $11bn deal with Iraq that would supply Iraq with arms, F16 fighter jets, tanks, and training to rebuild their army and air force, as well as supplies already received by Iraq to help protect its fragile domestic security forces.

While Maliki maintains his relationship with the United States remains strong, he also made the point in advance of the meeting that he did not want Iraq to be part of “someone else’s monopoly,” referring to the arms export deal with the United States. The premier added that he would buy arms based on his country’s needs, stating that he does not want Iraq to be encircled in conflict.

“While Iraq may be exploring other available options for arms purchases, there is a large and growing Foreign Military Sales program that the United States shares with the government of Iraq,” said an official from the U.S. State Department. “In fact, Prime Minister Maliki said as much at his press conference before he departed for Moscow, when he said that arms deals with the U.S. were still in progress, and will not be replaced with deals with Russia.”

Within Iraq, there is dissenting opinion about the state of the arms deals, and how beneficial it will be for the country at this point.

With the ongoing strain between two governments, Iraqi Kurdistan President Masoud Barzani has expressed concern over Baghdad having advanced weaponry, fearing a war on his region. He has previously been unsuccessful in preventing arms deals, despite voicing his fears that the weapons would be used on Iraq’s Kurds.

Many in the Sunni districts have also expressed fear of escalated fighting, should the available weaponry become more sophisticated.

Furthermore, al-Qaeda in Iraq has adopted new tactics, including assassinating security personnel to acquire their weapons, and to deter young Iraqis from joining the army and police forces. Baghdad has added 90 new checkpoints in the past two months to protect against al-Qaeda attacks, but with the security forces at an estimated quarter of its previous strength, it has instead made the city more vulnerable to attacks, and there is a fear that the new weapons could land in their hands, rather than be used to protect against them.

Iraqi military expert Mohammed al-Jubori claims the deal with Russia comes from frustration with the “loitering of the U.S. to supply Iraq with weapons, particularly F16 fighters.”

“We are committed to working with them to fulfill these military equipment orders as quickly as possible,” the State Department official said. “The FMS program that the U.S. shares with the government of Iraq is one of our largest, and symbolizes the long term security partnership envisioned by both countries.”

The first of the U.S. F16s are due to arrive in Baghdad in September of 2014.

“We’ve been struggling with this region for years, but it’s foolhardy for the U.S. to think these countries aren’t going to arm themselves against the other countries around them,” said Jeffery Lay, a former TOPGUN fighter pilot, who flew several combat missions in Iraq. He added that it is hard for the U.S. to keep a military monopoly, as it no longer has the technological edge it once did.

But still, it is important for the U.S. to keep its military commitments, he said, as they will be armed, one way or another.

“Iraq is tougher to defend because of its porous borders,” he said. “That’s going to be the question, whether the Iraqis are committed to protecting those borders.”


Baghdad-based reporter Nizar Latif contributed to this report.

Baghdad Checkpoints Frustrate Citizens

Iraqi security forces search a car at a checkpoint in Basra, southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, on Tuesday. Nabil al-Jurani // APPhoto

By Sarah Price and Nizar Latif
The National, September 2012

BAGHDAD // Maysam Ahmed, an emergency-room surgeon, walks three hours to work at a Baghdad hospital, because it is faster than going through the vehicle checkpoints that have been set up after a spate of Al Qaeda attacks during Ramadan.

He believes the nearly 100 security checkpoints could have the opposite of the intended effect. "The bombs have occurred," he said, "and what's happened has happened. We all know that the bombings are not over, but these extra checkpoints will not prevent them; they will only make them worse."

He explains that Al Qaeda wants concentrated areas of people for their attacks, and that is what these checkpoints facilitate for them.

"I woke up early and went out before 5am, hoping to reach work by 8," he says, adding that before the security checks were in place he could drive to work in 20 minutes.

Vehicles are searched and vehicle identification papers and drivers' licences scrutinised at each checkpoint. Some security points use dogs to help in the search, causing additional delays.

"Where do you come from?" and "Where are you going?" are the always-asked questions.

Al Qaeda's front group, the Islamic State of Iraq, said it carried out 131 attacks, mainly against security forces and Al Qaeda militiamen in Diyala province and south of Baghdad, this past Ramadan.

More than 400 people were killed in attacks countrywide during that time, according to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) tally based on security and medical sources.  Eight policemen were killed and 12 more injured in two armed attacks on checkpoints in the mainly Sunni Mashada neighbourhood in one incident. In another, gunmen killed three security members of the Sahwa, or Awakening movement, at a checkpoint north of Baghdad.

The Sahwa are Sunni Arabs who joined forces with the US military to fight Al Qaeda at the height of Iraq's insurgency. Abo Malik, 61, who now walks two and half hours from his house to a medical centre, to get his blood pressure medication, agrees that the extra security is causing more problems than it is preventing.

"The checkpoints do nothing and can't stop any terrorist action," he said after a two-and-a-half hour walk to the Khadimiyah Health Centre. "I just want them to open all the streets and let us live our lives normally. It's hard to live, seeing thousands of soldiers filling the streets, like we live in prison. I want to have my medication on time. I want my life to become easy. I just don't care about the security procedures."

The additional checkpoints have also created problems for those trying to help people who have been injured.

Rajah Saied, an ambulance driver for Khadimiyah General Hospital, said sometimes it is impossible to get his ambulance through the narrow traffic jams caused by the stops, directly endangering the lives the security points are supposed to be saving.

"It's hard to make my way through, when I'm responding to a call or picking up people injured by bombs," he said. "People are hurt by the bombings, but are losing their lives in the crazy traffic jams, because they are losing blood, and I feel guilty, because I can't save them."

At least 179 people were killed and 676 injured in attacks in Iraq this month, according to an AFP tally.

James McCartney Questions Life Through Music

By Sarah Price

When James McCartney took the stage at Liverpool, England’s famed Cavern Club on April 3, to play music from his new CD, it was a step he didn’t take lightly.  With his entry into the music world, he knew what he was inviting into his life: high expectations, comparisons, and criticism. Much of the appraisal of him and his music has been harsh, particularly in the British press, who seem at once to disparage him for having a Beatles legacy, and for not living up to it – a standard few have ever approached.

“It is an adjustment, but I’m actually pretty used to attention and scrutiny at this point,” he says. “The adjustment comes when it’s pointed at you, so directly. I knew it would be a change, which is why I wanted to wait until I felt both myself, and my music, were ready.”

But he says the comparisons don’t bother him.

“No, I’m not concerned really,” he says. “Honestly I like to embrace it, without either running towards it, or running away from it. I want to enjoy letting it all unfold, and then just be who I am.”

Born in 1977, the only son of Paul and Linda McCartney, James was involved with his father’s recordings early on, lending his spoken voice to the song, “Talk More Talk,” from the album, Press To Play, at the age of eight.  Later, he played guitar on 1997’s Flaming Pie and 2001’s Driving Rain.

He knew from an early age that music was where he was headed, although he says, like most kids, he did also think about being a fireman or policeman.  But by his teens, his mind was set.  With a wide range of influences, including The Beatles, Kurt Cobain, The Smiths, Radiohead, PJ Harvey, The Cure, Jimi Hendrix, Hank Williams, and Neil Young – whose “Old Man” he covers on his current double-CD release, The Complete EP Collection – he launched himself into music, learning to play several instruments, including the piano, guitar, and bass, and developing his songwriting skills. 

“I usually start with music first, and then lyrics,” he says of his technique. “But I’m actually trying to go about it in different ways now, to evolve further.  It’s really about whatever works – even singing nonsense words over a melody until the words begin to take shape. Sometimes you can get a foothold on something that way, and then you’re off and running. I’ve often blocked the lyrics out or written them in my notebook too, sort of like poetry. I also bounce from instrument to instrument to free things up.”

The Complete EP Collection, produced by Paul McCartney and David Kahne, is the CD set of two previous digital releases, Available Light and Close at Hand, plus five bonus tracks.  He plays most of the instruments on his CDs, which, like the influences who helped shape them, are an amalgam of different genres.  He says he doesn’t “prefer a style per se, just great music.”

A talented singer and musician, his own style is effortless and flowing, with alternately catchy and ethereal melodies, and his voice has a natural sweetness that lends itself well to the vulnerability of his lyrics.  He also infuses his spirituality into many of his songs. 

“I’m really interested in existential questions, theology, religion, and philosophy,” he says. “And transcendental meditation is important in my life, as well.”

His questions and subsequent back-and-forth of settling on answers is evident in his lyrics, which at times sounds like a stream of consciousness as he tries to work them out, as in “Jesus Be My Friend:” “Jesus be my friend/I tried to understand/Why God is close at hand/I don’t understand/Just why you let me down/You never let me down.”

While there is a definite soul-searching and questioning of the universe in his lyrics, for the most part, the conclusions he comes to are optimistic, even when it comes to the ongoing emotional fallout of the loss of his mother.

Linda died in 1998, after a long battle with cancer, when James was 20, but she has a continued influence not only on his music, but also his way of life.  He says that Tucson, Arizona, where they spent much of her life, and ultimately, her passing, is his favorite place. “Aside from it being incredibly beautiful there,” he says, “it’s a special place for me because of my mum, and the time we spent there.”

In his song, “Wings of a Lightest Weight,” his thoughts of her are a melancholy reminiscence that is finally accepting of how her life ended: “One moment I’m arguing with you/Thinking I could put up a fight/But I only love you/I love you whoever is right/Then I think to myself/It couldn’t be any other way.” 

He also deals with other internal tugs-of-war, as in “I Only Want to Be Alone”: “…I’m still on the run/From this place of complete pretension/All I want is a real life mind/With thoughts that go off in a tangent.”  But the majority of his songs are embracing of life, and seem to rest on one main theme: we struggle, but we come back to love, and there is something bigger than us out there, making sure we’re alright.

Currently on his first North American tour, he says he looks forward to working on his next CD.

“I’m working on it now actually,” he says, “and I’ll be recording more this summer. It’ll be my first full-length record, so what I do next will certainly be different, as an album has a different flow than an EP, and a different process in making it, too. I’m looking forward to continuing to evolve musically.

“I guess it’s really something both my mum and dad each have really impressed upon me,” he adds, “which is that in the end it’s really all about the songwriting. It’s about the songs.”

But, he says, his personal evolution is important to him, as well. 

“I’d love to feel that I realized my full potential both as a person, and as a songwriter. That feels like a great, fulfilling goal to shoot for.”

Regrets and Anger Despite the Removal of a Cruel Dictator

By Sarah Price and Nizar Latif
The National, April 2012

BAGHDAD// Ahmed Majeed Al Musafer studies the images on the wall of his Baghdad studio. For decades, he was a premier photographer of Iraqi entertainers and politicians and visiting Arab actors and dignitaries. One wall of his studio is adorned with their photos - memories of a long-lost life.

Before the US-led invasion in 2003, he says, photography was a joy. To him, it was honest work that paid well, and that he could enjoy doing. He used the medium to seek out and display what was beautiful about Iraq, whether Iraqis at a local market or a well-known actor or artist. But the photographs today have changed from Iraqis enjoying life, to just trying to survive it.

He and the photographers he knows now have to document the destruction in and outside of Baghdad.

"Many have to seek out bloody photos, to sell to a news agency, to have money to live on," he says. "The once-beautiful Baghdad is now virtually gone. It is dirty now, and covered in ash and rubbish."

Fadil Abed Rahi is a former Republican Guard soldier who sells kababs at night from his cart on a street in Baghdad.

Mr Rahi, 38, says that during his time in the guard, he and his fellow soldiers were treated badly by Saddam Hussein, so initially he was happy to see the Americans arrive. But in retrospect, he says, if he could go back and stop the invasion, he would.

He says that even though he did not like Saddam, his life was much easier then. Today he works as a day labourer, picking up daily jobs in the morning, and running his kabab cart at night to support his wife and four children.

"Now," he says, "people have to work three jobs just to feed their families. Our lives have become much more serious and difficult. I would rather have died in the invasion of 2003 than live like this now."

According to the CIA, Iraq's unemployment rate has hovered around 15 percent for the past few years. About 25 percent of the country lives at or below the poverty line of about US$1.25 a day (Dh4.60).

Economic growth slowed from 9.5 percent in 2008 to under 1 percent in 2010. But it went back up to nearly 10 percent in 2011, and the CIA Factbook says "an improving security environment and foreign investment are helping to spur economic activity, particularly in the energy, construction, and retail sectors".

But the promise of further growth are of little comfort to Iraqis who are still suffering lasting effects of the war.

Um Basim is raising eight children without her husband, who was killed in sectarian violence in 2007, which she blames on the American invasion. She says the violence started with the US soldiers coming in and killing Iraqis by any means.

"This is what American democracy brought to us," she says. "Poverty, illness, and terror to our borders,"

But the Iraqi journalist Mohammed Hameed disagrees. He believes that Iraqis have freedom now that they never had before, and that their lives are better for it.

"We can speak and say everything we want, and Saddam's security forces are not there to arrest us," he says. "There is corruption and terror in the country, but nothing compared to Saddam."

He said Iraq was sick from Saddam's wars, but that the country is now on the way to recovery.

"I don't blame the Americans for anything that has happened in Iraq," he says. "The Iraqis brought this to themselves. They didn't work as a united people to build their country."