IRAQ: LIFE TRANSFORMED

Baghdad residents testify to changes both = wondrous=20 and terrible

Friday, March 18, 2005

BY BORZOU DARAGAHI

For the Star-Ledger

MAKASEB, Iraq -- Before the war, this small Sunni Arab farming = village=20 was a favored resting stop of Saddam Hussein, who trusted its = residents so=20 much he would wander over, unaccompanied by bodyguards, from a = nearby=20 presidential palace.

He so loved Makaseb -- perhaps because it reminded him of the = small=20 village near Tikrit where he was born -- that Saddam showered the = locals=20 with cash, gifts, privileges and jobs.

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"My president used to visit us," begins Ahmad Alwash Shalaan, a = physician who lives here with his family, "and give everyone = money. He=20 used to give the young people work on his farms."

But with Saddam and his largess gone, the village just west of = Baghdad=20 is fading away.

"Now about 90 percent of the people from Makaseb no longer work = here,"=20 Shalaan says as a heavy rain floods the fields and storm clouds = darken the=20 sky. "The village has been changed forever."

Two years after the U.S.-led invasion that would topple an = entrenched=20 government and social order, the changes wrought in Iraq are = becoming=20 tangible. During weeks of interviews with Iraqis living in the = Baghdad=20 region, a portrait of a profoundly affected country emerges.

Many are better off financially than they were under Saddam and = a dozen=20 years of external economic sanctions. But they are less secure = about their=20 lives and their futures. Almost all have suffered indelible = tragedies,=20 very often from violence that befell an immediate family member or = neighbor.

They have watched their country come unraveled as it tests the = limits=20 of freedom, sometimes through political expression, sometimes = through=20 violence and lawlessness.

"When the war started, I was optimistic because I wanted to see = Saddam=20 and his fellow Tikritis go," says Ra'ad Hussein al-Maliki, a Shi'a = banker=20 on Arasat Street, in a middle-class Baghdad neighborhood. "A year = later, I=20 was less optimistic because I hadn't seen anything good coming = from the=20 Americans. Now I'm pessimistic. Many of my friends have already = left=20 Iraq."

Year Two was a time of political and economic successes, = including the=20 handover of sovereignty, the staging of elections, the growth of = the=20 consumer economy and the increase in public salaries.

But the successes were shadowed by one calamity after another: = the=20 April uprisings in Fallujah and the Shi'a south; the revelations = of=20 prisoner abuse by American soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison; a string = of car=20 bombings and mass killings; the renewed fighting in Najaf, Sadr = City,=20 Samarra, Tal Afar, Fallujah and Mosul.

Ibrahim Khalil Hameed Hasoon, a 42-year-old owner of a cell = phone shop=20 in the Karada district of Baghdad, says he once narrowly escaped = gunfire=20 from American troops hunting insurgents.

"Financially, life is good," he says. "I just bought an = expensive=20 Mercedes -- but I'm ready to give it away for some peace of mind." =

The war did not merely replace the country's leadership with a = new=20 management team, as many in the U.S. administration had originally = envisioned. Instead it reshaped the country and transformed its = people.=20

LOSERS OF HISTORY

The U.S.-led invasion brought = about a=20 revolution. It elevated Iraq's majority Shi'as and its = long-rebellious=20 Kurds into major leadership roles. Meanwhile, Sunni Arab = strongholds like=20 Makaseb have lost political clout and have watched financial = rewards go=20 elsewhere.=20

"We have lost a lot," says Muhan Nasser Hossein al-Jabouri, a=20 64-year-old farmer who used to tend to Saddam's fields. "We = continue to=20 lose more every day."

Jabouri spends his days walking around the village's tribal=20 headquarters, occasionally sipping tea with other tribal chiefs = who stop=20 by. But the visitors are fewer and fewer.

"Right now we have no honor," he says. "It's not the natural = way things=20 should be."

Across the road, Arkan Khaled Mahmoud tends to his family's few = chickens. He had been an employee of Saddam's war apparatus, = making=20 munitions at a state-owned military factory. In two years he has = watched=20 his life drain to nothing.

"I used to have a good salary and a good living," says the = 29-year-old.=20 "Now the Americans give nothing to me."

Indeed, Sunni Arabs share a sense that Shi'as and Kurds not = only have=20 taken over the government but are taking the best jobs. Nazar Abu = Yusuf, a=20 30-year-old clothing salesman in Karada, says he was pushed out of = his job=20 at a large hotel because the new manager wanted to hire his Shi'a = friends=20 and relatives.

"I went to 11 ministries," he says, "and at each one I was told = the=20 same thing: 'We won't hire you unless you know someone here or are = related=20 to a minister.'"

In other parts of the country, Sunni anger at the new order = helps fuel=20 the continued insurgency against U.S. troops and their Iraqi = allies. The=20 residents of Makaseb say they have not taken part in any of the = attacks=20 against Americans.

Nearby Airport Road, however, is among the most dangerous = stretches of=20 highway in the country, where insurgents regularly attack U.S. = troops and=20 Western contractors. Makaseb residents concede they no longer = protect the=20 road leading to Baghdad's international airport from bandits and = criminals=20 -- something they did under Saddam.

"It feels like it's not our country anymore," says Shabaan = al-Jabouri,=20 32, a Makaseb farmer who spent the day bringing farm equipment out = of the=20 pouring rain. "The Americans talk of freedom. This is freedom? = When the=20 Americans leave and the occupation ends, then we can live freely = among=20 ourselves."

A LONG WAIT PAYS OFF

The torrential rains -- unusual = and=20 unexpected in Iraq -- have stopped, and the gold-domed shrine at = the=20 center of Kadhemiya, a middle-class Shi'a section of northern = Baghdad,=20 sparkles under clear blue skies and the late-morning sun. The = crowded=20 alleyways surrounding the shrine teem with Kadhemiya's unique = blend of=20 commerce, faith and politics.=20

Iraqi Shi'as have waited for power for a thousand years, first = under=20 the Ottoman caliphate, next under the Sunni-led monarchy = established by=20 the British and, finally, under the brutal dictatorship of Saddam. =

Shi'as stood by patiently as U.S. troops entered their country. = While=20 some followers of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr fought violently = against=20 the occupation, they represented a sliver of the country's Shi'as, = who for=20 the most part looked forward to asserting their strength and = assuming=20 political control. Politicians associated with Shi'a groups have = taken=20 more than half the 275 seats in the new parliament, and a pious = Shi'a=20 religious scholar named Ibrahim al-Jafaari is all but assured of = becoming=20 the next prime minister.

The last two years have drawn Shi'as out of their state of = hiding and=20 into the public sphere. They have transformed Iraq's landscape. = They have=20 plastered posters of turbaned clerics on walls. They have unfurled = colorful banners commemorating the martyred Shi'a saints. They = beat their=20 chests in street processions as part of once-outlawed religious=20 ceremonies.

"It's hard to even think about what it used to be like before," = says=20 Abdul-Karim Mahdi, a 45-year-old employee of the Ministry of = Public Works.=20 "We used to live in fear. ... With Saddam gone, at least there's = hope."=20

Fadhel Mehdi Salah, a 46-year-old goldsmith, once could ply his = trade=20 only inside a dingy apartment, fearful of Saddam's security men. = Salah had=20 joined Saddam's Ba'ath Party when he was 14, only to fall out of = favor=20 when he was asked to spy on Kadhemiya residents four years later. =

After he got into a fistfight with another young recruit, he = was=20 arrested and sent to prison for a year. After the authorities let = him out,=20 they kept a close eye on him.

A year ago, Salah proudly opened up a jewelry shop on a wide = avenue=20 leading to the shrine.

"All we need now are honest people who care about the country = to lead=20 us forward," he says.

OPENING UP TO THE WORLD

Mohammad Sabah is oblivious = to the=20 rains outside his office on Baghdad's Sanaa Street, Iraq's = equivalent of=20 Silicon Valley. He's too busy cutting ethernet cables and working = a=20 keyboard.=20

The 27-year-old networking maestro, his gold wedding ring still = gleaming from his recent marriage, boasts that he and his partner, = who are=20 putting together computer systems for new companies and the new=20 government, earn more than any of the ministers in the government. =

The biggest deals for their company, Byte Matrix, have included = a=20 $10,000 contract with Baghdad International Airport and a $40,000 = deal=20 with Iraqna, the cell phone company.

In spite of ransom kidnappings, armed robberies and hijacking = of=20 trucking shipments, business and technology in Iraq are moving = quickly=20 ahead.

"At the time of Saddam we were 100 years behind, and now we are = 200=20 years ahead," Sabah says. "We are moving along side by side with = the=20 latest technologies. Whatever new science is out there, we can get = it=20 daily."

For businesspeople, the new era has meant new opportunities for = riches=20 and growth. "Now the market is wide open," said Safwat Rashid, a = Shi'a who=20 owns a hardware and industrial machinery wholesale business on = Rashid=20 Street. "Before, we couldn't get things from abroad. Now = everything we=20 need we can get, and at a good price."

Despite grinding poverty among many, Iraq two years after = invasion=20 finds itself in many ways a wealthier place than during the last = years of=20 Saddam.

Salaries among ministry employees have increased twenty- and=20 thirtyfold. By some estimates, the number of cars on the streets = of the=20 Iraqi capital has tripled. A majority of Iraqi households now have = satellite television.

But the same freedom that has created new economic = opportunities for=20 some has wreaked havoc on others.

IN HIDING

To young women, the colorful garment racks = in the=20 Beirut, a clothing store, are an oasis. The store is among the few = spaces=20 in Baghdad outside of their homes where young women can take off = their=20 headscarves without fearing for their lives.=20

"It's true that I don't like Saddam," says Iman Hamid, the = shop's=20 24-year-old saleswoman, "but at least before, we had security; we = had the=20 law. I could dress how I wanted without being afraid."

The new era in Iraq has meant the unleashing of conservative = Islamic=20 forces who insist on a more traditional role for Iraqi women. Even = inside=20 the protection of the Beirut, the women are initially reluctant to = speak=20 with strangers about their worries and experiences.

But after hesitating, they pour out their resentment over how = they are=20 viewed and treated today.

"The way the men look at you now is horrible," says Lebna = Mohammad, a=20 28-year-old customer.

"When I go out, I have to go and think before I get dressed. I = have to=20 think about how I might look to men. I don't wear anything = revealing. I=20 don't wear any makeup."

Nuha Abdul-Hadi, 45, another customer, never wore a headscarf = in her=20 life except to funerals -- until about one year ago, when she was=20 threatened by strangers on the street. "I don't go out without it = now,"=20 she says.

Hamid says a general feeling of insecurity has led many of her=20 girlfriends to stop going to college.

"There are no parties," she says. "We cannot go out of the = street for=20 fear of car bombings, kidnappings, terrorists or even rape."

Though she has an accounting degree, Mohammad has stopped = looking for=20 work, she says, because she is terrified of leaving her house = after what=20 happened to her sister and brother-in-law.

The couple were murdered and dumped on the side of the road = west of=20 Baghdad in December 2003; their six children were orphaned. Police = suspect=20 they were killed just for their late-model car. Her gender did not = exempt=20 Mohammad's sister from the savagery.

PAYING IN BLOOD

Two years after the start of the = war,=20 ordinary Iraqis still live with trauma.=20

They remember what they were doing when the bombing began: = listening to=20 the British Broadcasting Corp.'s Arab service, desperately = hoarding food=20 and supplies, attempting to look in on a relative across town, = eager for=20 an end to the war.

They are still wondering when the violence will cease, when the = grief=20 and suffering that has touched their lives will abate. Iraq has = become a=20 nation where casual conversations with strangers often slip into=20 extraordinary tales of pain and violence.

Hadi Muhamad Jawad, the 45-year-old owner of an Arasat Street = clothing=20 boutique, watched as his neighbor was killed by one of the random = mortar=20 shells fired by insurgents.

Taxi company owner Muhaned Ubadi Abdalla lost his best friend = in a car=20 bombing last year. Nazar Abu Yusef's dear friend Nawar died in the = crossfire between U.S. troops and insurgents some months ago. = Abdul Kareem=20 Saleh Mahdi still can't erase the images of the mangled bodies he = saw at=20 the scene of a car bombing in Kadhemiya a year ago.

Defense Ministry employee Alla Kadhim al-Bahadilly, 35, watched = as his=20 15-year-old cousin was ripped apart by an unexplained explosion, = probably=20 caused by a mortar round, at his house. And he can't forget the = day in May=20 2003 when he saw two drivers cursing each other on the street. =

"All of a sudden, a passenger in one of the cars pulled out an = AK-47=20 and killed the other driver, right in front of me," he recalls. =

Raad Hussein Thabit al-Maliki, 41, was kidnapped and released = only when=20 his family paid a hefty ransom to criminals. Fatin Abdulahad = Edwar's=20 brother-in-law also was kidnapped for ransom.

DISAPPOINTMENT LOOMS

In Sadr City, the teeming Shi'a = slum of=20 Baghdad where 10 percent of Iraq's population lives, the rains = have=20 flooded the streets and neighborhoods, pouring into people's = living rooms=20 and sleeping quarters, cutting off electricity and fresh water.=20

Though storms ceased days ago, the children play knee-deep in = rainwater=20 mixed with raw sewage overflowing from a drainage system that = needs up to=20 $7 billion in repairs.

"My own house was flooded," says Abbas Hossein, 28, a = short-order cook.=20 "I had to take shelter somewhere else. Water has flooded my whole = house.=20 To get to work, I pull my pants up to my knees and walk through = the=20 water."

Iraq's infrastructure, destroyed by decades of neglect and war, = remains=20 near collapse. The country's electricity output has yet to reach = prewar=20 levels.

Pockmarked roads are plagued by bandits.

Even across town from Sadr City, within the crowded, crumbling=20 alleyways surrounding Imam Kadhem's shrine, patience runs thin. = Salaries=20 may have improved for civil service workers, but little has been = done to=20 improve Kadhemiya's infrastructure.

"They're promising to build a new road into Kadhemiya since the = time of=20 the monarchy," says Mohammad Baqer al-Soheil, a tribal leader. = "The roads=20 are very small. The mayor has promised to start the project. But = nothing=20 has improved in Kadhemiya for 800 years."

Iraqis acknowledge that the insurgency has done much to = destabilize the=20 country and to make the task of substantially improving roads, = waterworks=20 and electricity distribution difficult and expensive. But many = also=20 suspect corruption has played a role in the stalled reconstruction = effort.=20

Sabah, the tech whiz, says he ends up paying about $1,200 in = bribes to=20 officials and tribal leaders just to get shipments of computer = hardware to=20 the capital from the country's southern port.

Salah, the Kadhemiya goldsmith, tried to get back his old job = at the=20 police department but was told they weren't hiring. Then he = watched as the=20 department brought in supporters of interim Prime Minister Ayad = Allawi's=20 party and members of the same security forces that had tormented = Salah.=20

With the country's economy clearly reviving, and with thousands = of=20 military and security forces being trained to stabilize the new = Iraq,=20 better days are certainly ahead.

But postwar Iraq has been a jolting experience for the majority = of=20 Iraqis.

According to Hasoon, the Karada cell phone shop owner: "Over = the last=20 two years I feel like I've aged 60 years."


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