Middle East - Anthony Ham [179]
In July 2003, Saddam’s feared sons Uday and Qusay were killed in a fire fight with US forces. Five months later, a dishevelled and bearded Saddam was found cowering in a spider hole near his hometown of Tikrit. Saddam was executed in December 2006 for crimes against humanity.
In 2004 things went from bad to worse. The insurgency exploded, led by such groups as Al-Qaeda in Iraq, a feared Sunni militant group whose gruesome tactics included the videotaped beheadings of several Western contractors. That same year, photos emerged of American soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison, creating an international backlash against the occupation. Two major battles in the Sunni city of Fallujah did little to stem the bloodshed. On 22 February 2006, the holy Shiite shrine in Samarra was bombed, kicking off a wave of sectarian violence. The world watched in horror as Iraqi Sunnis and Shiites slaughtered each other by the thousands.
By its fifth anniversary in March 2008, the war had killed more than 4000 US and allied soldiers, tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians (figures range from 100,000 to over one million) and hundreds of contractors and journalists. Financially, the war was costing US citizens US$2 billion per week.
Iraq Today
Despite uncertainty about its future, Iraq is sowing some seeds of optimism. In 2005 Iraqis elected a transitional government and ratified a new constitution. In 2006 the country held elections to form Iraq’s first permanent democratic government, led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Iraq’s infrastructure remains dilapidated; there is a severe shortage of basic services including electricity, clean drinking water, sewage treatment and, ironically, gasoline (petrol).
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THE LONELY PLANET GUIDE TO INVASIONS
In a 2007 BBC documentary, former US ambassador Barbara Bodine admitted that the Iraq invasion and post-war reconstruction plans were partially based on an out-dated, copy of Lonely Planet’s Middle East. ‘It’s a great guidebook, but it shouldn’t be the basis of an occupation’, she told the BBC. Lonely Planet founder Tony Wheeler responded on his blog: ‘We don’t write our books with invasion, coups, revolutions and general mayhem in mind…but I have to admit our books sometimes get used in ways I don’t approve of’.
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In 2007 the tide began to turn against the insurgency. The US deployed 20,000 more troops to quell the violence. Iraqis began to reject the insurgency. US-funded Sunni militias calling themselves The Awakening (or Sons of Iraq) rose up against Al-Qaeda. The Shiite Mahdi Army militia led by fiery anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr declared a ceasefire. By mid-2008, violence had fallen dramatically. Newly elected US President Barack Obama vowed to withdraw US combat troops by early 2010; the Iraqi parliament ordered all US troops to leave the country by 31 December 2011. Only time will tell if Iraq can move towards peace and re-emerge as a major democratic power in the Middle East.
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THE CULTURE
The National Psyche
You would think that decades of war would have left Iraqis demoralised and bitter. On the contrary, Iraqis are resilient, warm and welcoming people. Nowhere is this truer than in Iraqi Kurdistan, where the Kurds are renowned for their hospitality. Strangers are offered food and lodging within minutes of meeting. Americans in particular are given a hero’s welcome in Iraqi Kurdistan, where former US President George W Bush Jnr is considered a saviour of the Kurdish people.
Iraqis are well known for their sense of humour, even in the face of suffering and misery. Iraqis have an acute sense of pride and honour and are fiercely proud of their history and homeland. They are well read and surprisingly knowledgeable about the world. It is a country where formality and politeness are all important.
Democracy has brought capitalism – and materialism – to the country. Iraqis have embraced Western pop culture, fashion,