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A journey to Iraq Sunday, May 06, 2012
Badrya Darwish
It was not even the last thing on my agenda or a plan in my head to visit Iraq. So, when I received a call from Adnan Al-Rashed, Kuwait Journalist Association asking me if I would like to join a trip the Association was planning to Iraq, I said, “Iraq! Baghdad? No, no, no.” It took me a couple of seconds to answer back. He was quick to react: “I take this as a yes.” He hung up. Honestly guys, I was jittery the whole week before the trip. My family did not want me to go. They kept on nagging me to cancel the trip and take somebody else along. I said I was not going to chicken out. I started preparing psychologically by listening to news from Iraq. For my luck, on one of the days there were 35 explosions in Iraq! My suffering was immense and my anxiety reached the peak.
It was not fear of explosions only. I have faith. Whatever is meant to happen will happen to you even if you are at home. It was just the question- why would I go to a country that invaded us 20 years ago? I inquired with people (who were there before) about the place, and they said that the skies were full of lightening as if there were fireworks! To cream the cake, a friend called to tell me that he was in Iraq on a mission. I asked him what it was like. He only said: ‘Hell.” He said that the hotel he was at shook all night long. I told him to stop talking because I was about to travel to Iraq the following week.
I dragged myself to the airport sluggishly, without any enthusiasm, hoping that the whole trip would be cancelled last minute. But they did not. We took flydubai to Dubai and from there back over the Kuwaiti space to land in Baghdad. It was a long, boring flight. We then landed in the capital of Al-Rashid. We were received by many officials at the airport. They facilitated our entry, luggage and all. Of course, we were taken to the Green Zone and I am sure most of you know what that is. It is high security area in Baghdad where diplomats and companies stay.
The Green Zone is quite safe. We thought we would be staying at Rashid Hotel in the Green Zone but Nouri Al-Maliki insisted that the Kuwaiti delegation be his guests. We were accommodated at Prime Minister’s guest palace, which is also located in the Green Zone. The place looked grand. I don’t know if it was one of Saddam Hussein’s old palaces. At that point, I was loosening up but I was totally alert, waiting to hear any bombing, shelling. As the night approached, I looked up at the sky to see the fireworks. The palace was so serene and quiet. I didn’t see anything.
And from that moment onward, I loved every moment of the trip. It was my first trip to Iraq. I had never visited the country, even before the invasion of Kuwait. The Iraqis I met were so great. They were very friendly and not like what you see on TV. They are brave and want to come out of their misery. They are tired and fed up of war, isolation and bombings. Everywhere we went, we were met with passion, love and regrets. They were apologetic about Saddam’s crazy and savage acts. They were all repeating the same thing, “He invaded you and harmed you for a couple of months. But he destroyed us, killed our families and spirits for 35 years. We were all his prisoners, in fact.”
Of course, during our trip, we met the Prime Minister Al-Maliki who was very keen to receive us. The visit with Al-Maliki was supposed to last for one hour but it stretched to two. The man was very candid, polite and straight-forward in his answers. He had high hopes to rebuild his country before the end of his term. He said, “I am not sure if I will be re-elected in the coming elections.” Al-Maliki said that he wanted to do his best before leaving office. He went on to explain the suffering, disputes and devastation in Iraq. “Our country needs everything. We have to start from the scratch – building, repairing. I would like to see our Arab friends in this venture,” he said. Many companies from China and Turkey are participating in rebuilding Iraq. “I would like to see Arab brothers coming to invest. We have set new and flexible rules for investors,” he said.
It did not need Al-Maliki to tell me that the country needs rebuilding. When touring Baghdad accompanied by assistants from Al-Maliki’s office guards et al, we were like a mobile military convoy. Of course, you cannot visit Baghdad without paying respect to Al-Qadem. So, we went to Al-Qadem mosque. The streets were buzzing with people. But the area looked crowded with shops, sweet shops, restaurants, shawarma stands, Iraqi sweets in baskets. I could see poverty on the faces of people.
The streets looked desolate and many lacked asphalt. The electricity grid could be seen with naked eyes. The streets did not give away the feeling of a modern, posh city. No infrastructure but just old buildings huddled next to each other. Everything looked liked ancient ruins except for Saddam’s palaces. I asked our coordinators if they could take us to one palace. They agreed. The pictures tell the story better. That was just one of his palaces. The area surrounding his palaces reminded one of Paris, London or Dubai, but not the rest of Baghdad where nearly seven million people live.
As part of the trip we also met the Shiite cleric Sayed (a descendant of the Prophet – PBUH) Amar Al-Hakim who also, of course, expressed his warm feelings for Kuwait and apologized for Saddam’s wrongdoing. He explained how much his family suffered at the hands of Saddam. Of course, you do not enter Iraq without visiting Karbala – the home to Imam Hussein’s shrine. Karbala looked like a sad, old village. The city which is known as the location of the Battle of Karbala is one of the holiest cities for Shiite Muslims after Makkah and Medina.
After that, we went to Najaf where Imam Ali is buried. The same story applies to Najaf – old streets, no infrastructure. These are two famous religious cities in his country which Saddam neglected. Some 50 million visit these shrines. Karbala and Najaf can bring to Iraq as much as petrol income! They looked like two cities dated from medieval times. That did not stop people from crawling to the cities from all over the world. Some worshippers even walk the distance between Karbala and Najaf, which is 80 kilometers. They refuse to ride buses or cars. They prefer to walk the distance to receive more blessings. In Najaf, we were the guests of Sayed Mohamad Bahar Al-Ulum. He is a high level cleric in the Shiite community. Sayed Mohamed is also the father of the Iraqi Ambassador to Kuwait, Mohammad Bahr Al-Ulum.
By Badrya Darwish
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Badrya Darwish
It was not even the last thing on my agenda or a plan in my head to visit Iraq. So, when I received a call from Adnan Al-Rashed, Kuwait Journalist Association asking me if I would like to join a trip the Association was planning to Iraq, I said, “Iraq! Baghdad? No, no, no.” It took me a couple of seconds to answer back. He was quick to react: “I take this as a yes.” He hung up. Honestly guys, I was jittery the whole week before the trip. My family did not want me to go. They kept on nagging me to cancel the trip and take somebody else along. I said I was not going to chicken out. I started preparing psychologically by listening to news from Iraq. For my luck, on one of the days there were 35 explosions in Iraq! My suffering was immense and my anxiety reached the peak.
It was not fear of explosions only. I have faith. Whatever is meant to happen will happen to you even if you are at home. It was just the question- why would I go to a country that invaded us 20 years ago? I inquired with people (who were there before) about the place, and they said that the skies were full of lightening as if there were fireworks! To cream the cake, a friend called to tell me that he was in Iraq on a mission. I asked him what it was like. He only said: ‘Hell.” He said that the hotel he was at shook all night long. I told him to stop talking because I was about to travel to Iraq the following week.
I dragged myself to the airport sluggishly, without any enthusiasm, hoping that the whole trip would be cancelled last minute. But they did not. We took flydubai to Dubai and from there back over the Kuwaiti space to land in Baghdad. It was a long, boring flight. We then landed in the capital of Al-Rashid. We were received by many officials at the airport. They facilitated our entry, luggage and all. Of course, we were taken to the Green Zone and I am sure most of you know what that is. It is high security area in Baghdad where diplomats and companies stay.
The Green Zone is quite safe. We thought we would be staying at Rashid Hotel in the Green Zone but Nouri Al-Maliki insisted that the Kuwaiti delegation be his guests. We were accommodated at Prime Minister’s guest palace, which is also located in the Green Zone. The place looked grand. I don’t know if it was one of Saddam Hussein’s old palaces. At that point, I was loosening up but I was totally alert, waiting to hear any bombing, shelling. As the night approached, I looked up at the sky to see the fireworks. The palace was so serene and quiet. I didn’t see anything.
And from that moment onward, I loved every moment of the trip. It was my first trip to Iraq. I had never visited the country, even before the invasion of Kuwait. The Iraqis I met were so great. They were very friendly and not like what you see on TV. They are brave and want to come out of their misery. They are tired and fed up of war, isolation and bombings. Everywhere we went, we were met with passion, love and regrets. They were apologetic about Saddam’s crazy and savage acts. They were all repeating the same thing, “He invaded you and harmed you for a couple of months. But he destroyed us, killed our families and spirits for 35 years. We were all his prisoners, in fact.”
Of course, during our trip, we met the Prime Minister Al-Maliki who was very keen to receive us. The visit with Al-Maliki was supposed to last for one hour but it stretched to two. The man was very candid, polite and straight-forward in his answers. He had high hopes to rebuild his country before the end of his term. He said, “I am not sure if I will be re-elected in the coming elections.” Al-Maliki said that he wanted to do his best before leaving office. He went on to explain the suffering, disputes and devastation in Iraq. “Our country needs everything. We have to start from the scratch – building, repairing. I would like to see our Arab friends in this venture,” he said. Many companies from China and Turkey are participating in rebuilding Iraq. “I would like to see Arab brothers coming to invest. We have set new and flexible rules for investors,” he said.
It did not need Al-Maliki to tell me that the country needs rebuilding. When touring Baghdad accompanied by assistants from Al-Maliki’s office guards et al, we were like a mobile military convoy. Of course, you cannot visit Baghdad without paying respect to Al-Qadem. So, we went to Al-Qadem mosque. The streets were buzzing with people. But the area looked crowded with shops, sweet shops, restaurants, shawarma stands, Iraqi sweets in baskets. I could see poverty on the faces of people.
The streets looked desolate and many lacked asphalt. The electricity grid could be seen with naked eyes. The streets did not give away the feeling of a modern, posh city. No infrastructure but just old buildings huddled next to each other. Everything looked liked ancient ruins except for Saddam’s palaces. I asked our coordinators if they could take us to one palace. They agreed. The pictures tell the story better. That was just one of his palaces. The area surrounding his palaces reminded one of Paris, London or Dubai, but not the rest of Baghdad where nearly seven million people live.
As part of the trip we also met the Shiite cleric Sayed (a descendant of the Prophet – PBUH) Amar Al-Hakim who also, of course, expressed his warm feelings for Kuwait and apologized for Saddam’s wrongdoing. He explained how much his family suffered at the hands of Saddam. Of course, you do not enter Iraq without visiting Karbala – the home to Imam Hussein’s shrine. Karbala looked like a sad, old village. The city which is known as the location of the Battle of Karbala is one of the holiest cities for Shiite Muslims after Makkah and Medina.
After that, we went to Najaf where Imam Ali is buried. The same story applies to Najaf – old streets, no infrastructure. These are two famous religious cities in his country which Saddam neglected. Some 50 million visit these shrines. Karbala and Najaf can bring to Iraq as much as petrol income! They looked like two cities dated from medieval times. That did not stop people from crawling to the cities from all over the world. Some worshippers even walk the distance between Karbala and Najaf, which is 80 kilometers. They refuse to ride buses or cars. They prefer to walk the distance to receive more blessings. In Najaf, we were the guests of Sayed Mohamad Bahar Al-Ulum. He is a high level cleric in the Shiite community. Sayed Mohamed is also the father of the Iraqi Ambassador to Kuwait, Mohammad Bahr Al-Ulum.
By Badrya Darwish
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
