Baghdad-Burning

The Washington post (and others) are carrying a PDF file that is a memo from the US Embassy in Baghdad dated June 6.

In the memo, many of the things reported by River (baghdad burning) and others is repeated: ethnic cleansing, rival factions at all levels of government, sectarian tensions, one hour of electricity for every six hours without, visible deterioration of even the best neighborhoods, discrimination against women, standing in line for hours for basic necessities like gasoline, etc.

Meanwhile, from the president’s radio address:

I traveled to Baghdad to personally show our Nation’s commitment to a free Iraq, because it is vital for the Iraqi people to know with certainty that America will not abandon them after we have come this far. The challenges that remain in Iraq are serious.

How far have we come, really? Isn’t it time to try something new, instead of keeping the old puppets doing the same old dance?

(and for reference, here is the Iraq embassy memo June 6 )

Every now and then I toss out what could be a political comment or (usually) sarcasm aimed at someone or other. It’s not that I’m hiding my opinions on weighty matters, it’s that they aren’t exactly fun things to write about and discuss.

It occurs to me that just about everything I’ve been writing about has been about gloom and doom (mostly personal, but whatever) so maybe it isn’t the end of the world.

Anyway…

One of the first blogs on my roll was Baghdad Burning. I read Riverbend before I ever thought of having a blog. She has always represented, to me, a “voice” from Baghdad, from Iraq, and I’ve followed her since before Gulf War II, Electric Bugaloo.

Note: I do not say “the” voice, but she is a voice, and she is a great writer, and if this doesn’t put you in the shoes of an Iraqi then nothing I can say would.

Just as you might get a different impression of New York were you to interview someone living in a Trump Penthouse than you would interviewing someone working two jobs in the Bronx to try and keep their rent paid, the same thing can probably be said for Iraq and Baghdad. But I’m thinking Trump isn’t in Baghdad, not yet. Hell, until they keep power on more than four hours a day (three years after the invasion? In the capital?) it’ll seem more primitive than any American city. But hey, y’all, go visit New Orleans and put a homeless person out of their hotel room so you can catch some beads. I think I heard that from the White House today…

Anyway…

Follow the link if you have time, read a bit. It might move you like it does me.

Baghdad Burning:

“A few days ago, the cousin took me to buy a pack of recordable CDs. The price had gone up a whole dollar, which may seem a pittance to the average American or European, but it must be remembered that many Iraqis make as little as $100 a month and complete families are expected to survive on that.

“B. why has the price of these lousy CDs gone up so much???” I demanded from the shop owner who is also a friend, “Don’t tell me your supplier has also pushed the prices up on you because of the gasoline shortage?” I asked sarcastically. No- supplies cost the same for him- he has not needed to stock up yet. But this is how he explained it: his car takes 60 liters of gasoline. It needs to be refueled every 2-3 days. The official price of gasoline was 50 Iraqi dinars before, so it cost him around 3000 dinars to fill up his car, which was nearly two dollars. Now it costs 9000 Iraqi dinars IF he fills it up at a gas station and not using black market gasoline which will cost him around 15,000 dinars- five times the former price- and this every two to three days. He also has to purchase extra gasoline for the shop generator which needs to be working almost constantly, now that electricity is about four hours daily. “Now how am I supposed to cover that increase in my costs if I don’t sell CDs at a higher price?”

People buy black market gasoline because for many, waiting in line five, six, seven… ten hours isn’t an option. We’ve worked out a sort of agreement amongst 4 or 5 houses in the neighborhood. According to a schedule (which is somewhat complicated and involves license plate numbers, number of children per family, etc.), one of us spends the day filling up the car and then the gasoline is distributed between the four or five involved neighbors.

The process of extracting the gasoline from the car itself once it is back at the house was a rather disgusting and unhealthy one up until nearly a year ago. A hose was inserted into the gasoline tank and one of they unlucky neighbors would suck on it until the first surge of gasoline came flowing out. Now, thanks to both local and Chinese ingenuity, we have miniature gasoline pumps to suck out the gasoline. “The man who invented these,” My cousin once declared emotionally, holding the pump up like a trophy, “deserves a Nobel Prize in… something or another.”

I know for most of the world, highly priced gasoline is a common concern. For Iraqis, it represents how the situation is deteriorating. Gasoline and kerosene were literally cheaper than bottled water prior to the war. It’s incredibly frustrating that while the price of petrol is at a high, one of the worlds leading oil-producing countries isn’t producing enough to cover its own needs.”

Part of my depression is that I keep things bottled up. I stew over things, I worry about things. Can I control them? Not always. Sometimes I just want to scream, or hit something, or worse.

Things like this: Baghdad Burning: “Iraqis will never forgive this- never. It’s outrageous- it’s genocide and America, with the help and support of Allawi, is responsible. May whoever contributes to this see the sorrow, terror and misery of the people suffering in Falloojeh.”

Read Riverbend’s whole entry. It appears we are (still) practicing the decades old doctrine of “sometimes you have to destroy a town to save it.” I won’t dwell on this here, I have enough depressing or messed up stuff as it is. I abhor what we are doing. We are causing the same circumstances that create terrorism in the first place. And 52% of my own countrymen hate me for thinking that.