born 1976, political Scientist and freelance journalist
[15/02/2010]
Eight checkpoints in 120 kilometers, the distance separating Rumaitha from Najaf. Not a single question. The police and the Iraqi army in perfect (or apparent) control of the situation- despite the fact that the Defense Minister is excluded from the political game and from participating in the next elections (when we are traveling, the decision is later revoked). We even manage to make touristic stops along the way. The road, surrounded by the palm trees of the oasis, goes towards Babylon, in stark contrast with the desert route from Basra to the north. More camels and Bedouins, for whom time and wars do not seem to pass. More mosques-hostels for travelers and pilgrims. Not a single armed man or in uniform. At least in sight. Looks of bewilderment. Foreigners are not a common sight in this region. But still they are welcoming. Tea and more tea. No problem. Southern Iraq is definitely different from what foreigners imagine it to be. Only wild dogs bite here. And they hide during the day.
In a flash, we reach Najaf. A big and bustling city, with an imposing hospital being built in its outskirts. More roads with decent asphalt than the ones we have travelled along in the region of Muthana (Samawa y Rumaitha). The flags with the imposing face of Imam Hussein – eyes outlined, pointy beard and a mix of colors more suitable for a pop record than for religious iconography- are even more numerous and they practically cover the facades of houses and shops. There are also other alternatives to this flag: his head after being cut and put on a spear or of a baby with an arrow piercing his heart, held by a suffering (and faceless) woman. They do not seem to be the ideal encouragement for children to join the celebration. Which is massive. Along with the drums, trumpets and the shouts of men who strike their own backs and wave swords in the air. And these are only the rehearsals of the Ashura, but the ensemble already acquires a dense tone, of collective mourning. Softened by the sweets they give on the streets (and which you cannot refuse).
The hospitality we receive in Najaf is from Hassan Olaiwi, a retired teacher, member of the (mostly symbolic) Communist Party of Iraq (two representatives in Parliament). Persecuted by Saddam's regime, from which he had to hide for several years, leaving his family in the care of his extended family, and bombed in his own house due to the activism of his two daughters, Thuwar (Revolution) 27, and Intissar (Victory), 29. The first thing he shows us, along with the damages caused by the explosion, is the two rifles he hides underneath the television. He has never used them. Because the attack came from forty kilos of explosives that, even though they were not correctly placed, sent shrapnel into various of the rooms, fracturing one of the columns sustaining the second floor and provoking cracks that were patchily repaired, waiting for better days. "If they had had the courage to really attack us we would have defended ourselves, but that bomb in the door, with all my family inside, is the work of cowards. What fault do the children have? These are adult problems. They should let us defend ourselves and they should come to us directly if they have a problem with us, but they cannot attack a whole family with explosives this size".
Hassan Olaiwi is pessimistic. He thinks that the current calm is relative and temporary. He knows that the people who attacked them due to the activism of his daughters are, with all certainty, members of the police, the temporary refuge for the Islamic militiamen who imposed a reign of terror in 2006, 2007 y 2008. He calls them "the sleeping monster".
As is usually the case in Iraq, "things are known but not said, and even less to foreigners. Here we have other ways of solving our problems". And he is not talking about political measures. When a family is attacked in Iraq, the victims can often recognize their aggressors and find them on the street the following day, with total impunity and no chance of seeking redress through the police or the legal system.
Hassan considers that the price they have paid to get rid of the dictator is too high. And that the actual situation is not better, it is worse. Democracy is not fitting in. When the next elections (March 2010) are over and the Americans have completely abandoned the country, he deems it probable that there will once again be war. "The next war will be worse than the former ones because during these last few years we have positioned and identified ourselves with different sectors, so now there is no turning back. Those who do not accept the rules of the game, if they do not win through peaceful methods, will once again resort to arms, even without removing the army or police uniforms. This is how it has always been in Iraq and how it always will be".
- Don't you think that the change has been positive?
"We didn't think that all this was going to happen. I hated Saddam Hussein. But the way they hanged him, on the first day of the Eid (Muslim festivity), was a public humiliation for Iraq, a cruel theatrical display, an Iranian revenge. We thought that, after the foreign occupation, Iraqis who were living abroad would come back with a clear plan. It was necessary to overthrow the regime, but we were never consulted about anything. The progressive and secular Iraqis did not want an occupation but they were never able to reach an agreement. The result has been a temporary coalition of interests between the Americans and the Islamists, designing their biased power game, without really worrying about the Iraqis or Iraq. A disaster. Six years of war, a country that does not even deserve to be named as such, when it is really three different zones living in isolation. I cannot travel to Diyala or Anbar and someone from the center of the country cannot visit me. This is how the situation has been pacified, dividing and incommunicating the country. Iraq is an invention, it is not real. An ethnic democracy has been created".
So what was the mistake?
"The mistake was the military tactic used when the occupation decided that they could solely rely on the Islamists to free the country and that no other force had this capacity. Iran supported for many years a platform aiming to take control of Iraq, weakening the country, and the United States temporarily benefited from the weakness and the internal division to reap its own profits. When they destroyed the state structure they did it knowingly, aware that they were opening space for Islamist sectarianism. Nobody really wanted to fight against them. They fought against the Ba'ath until they finished it off, but they did not want to fight against the religious sectors. These sectors are the ones who are finally victorious".
¿What is to be expected in the near future?
"America will be leaving Iraq soon. Their presence is hardly noticeable any more. What will our destiny be then? They keep a certain order with their occupation. When they are gone, chaos will reign anew. We are a nationalistic country, first and foremost, and the influence that Iran is gaining is frightening. It is one thing sharing cultural traditions or the Shiite religion, like we do here in the south, but type of government and national independence are other matters. The Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution and the Badr party are following Iran's orders and they will turn against the government when they consider it necessary Al Maliki's party (Dawa) is weak and simply implements American orders, the Kurds are getting ever stronger and the Sunni won't surrender without a fight. They are simply waiting, regrouping. I do not accept the occupation, nobody should accept it. But the militias are waiting for the Americans to go in order to fight for power. Iraq will once again be Lebanon, multiplied by three. It is only a question of time.".
Where lies the root of the problem in order for any improvement of the situation?
"There will be no internal peace until the Shia militias accept the rules of the democratic game and until the former ba'athists return -in some way or other- to the public life, with a constitution that is respected and a strong parliament. The Iraqis are emotional people. Sectarianism has always existed. If an external factor, like occupation, is added into the equation of armed leaders willing to defend their private interests at any price, there will be bloodshed. Nobody wants to consider the general interest. They only think about their group, their tribe, their town, their region. The concepts of country or state are unfamiliar in Iraq. The situation has improved because the people said “enough is enough” and they pressured the militias into stopping their activities. But what the Mahdi Army did to the Sunnites in Baghdad cannot be forgotten and what the Shiites have done to each other in Basra is difficult to understand. Iraq is a boxing ring. Once in a while a few punches are given, but from the floor. From a technical K.O., from defeat. Trying to get up in front of the public even knowing its impossible. At least in this combat; nothing good will come out of it".
When talking to Iraqis, you have to try and overcome the labels that they all use to try to identify the culprit: age, geographic origin, relation with the previous regime, religious beliefs or level of damage suffered by the occupation. The description of the situation, for those who are looking for joint-force lines, is surprisingly similar in all the cases, they only change the adjectives. In one of the stories, one is the criminal and the neighbor is the victim. You cross the street and the roles are interchanged, nearly always in a story structured around similar premises, with similar trigger factors, events and consequences. And motivations that are nearly always rooted in a remote past which is better not mentioned, slithering towards revenge and ending in death and a new stage in the cycle.
In the words of Thuwar, Hassan's daughter: "Najaf is divided in two sections: the area of the Koufa Mosque, controlled by the Mahdi Army and the rest of the city, controlled by the Al Badr militia (Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution). It is an abnormal situation and it is not based in reality. And it makes our life difficult.” Her sister Inthissar reminds her to “not forget Al Dawa, Al Maliki's party, trapped between the Sadr militia and the Badr militia". This is Najaf. Where the cake is divided, at gunpoint, between various Shiite groups.