- Riverbend,
Iraqi blogger in Baghdad - Dlawer Ala'Aldeen,
Academic - Firas Al-Atraqchi,
Journalist - Zeyad A,
Baghdad Dentist - Tahrir Abdul Samad Numan,
Iraqi exile and peace activist
Riverbend, Iraqi blogger in Baghdad
It is three years after the war and the situation in Iraq has visibly deteriorated. Immediately after the war, cities like Baghdad were burned and looted and under occupation, but there was still a hope that buildings could be rebuilt and Iraq could be put back together. I think as the months go by with no visible progress, especially in the areas of security and infrastructure, Iraqis feel less and less hopeful.
Three years ago we were dealing with foreign occupation, joblessness and large-scale damage to the most basic infrastructure. Today we are dealing with all of the above, but along with this there is the added concern of sectarian violence and the possibility of civil war being promoted by the occupation and by extremists.
Life before the war was difficult. The blockades and the isolation of Iraq from the international community during the 1990s made people feel very alone in their troubles and concerns. There was security, however, and the basics in most places water, electricity, etc. There was also the sense that extremists were under control and the secular stamp of the government made it possible for educated, middle-class Iraqis to live their lives under the circumstances. It is far worse today for most Iraqis than it was three years ago.
Today we take it one day at a time. We simply try to get through the day without hearing of another life taken or another friend or family member dying a violent death or being abducted. If you can make it a week without news like that, you may consider it a very good week.
Iraqis have been very tolerant and patient and I'm hoping this patience will carry us through this situation.
I don't know what the future will be like for my country or what we have to look forward to, but during the darker moments, I tell myself that we've been through bad times and managed to come out successfully maybe this is one of those times. I don't have faith in America to bring us through or any of the neighbouring countries but I have faith in Iraq and its people...
Firas Al-Atraqchi, journalist
In 2002, when it became increasingly apparent that the Bush administration would pursue an invasion and occupation of Iraq irrespective of international convention and/or consensus, I began to campaign against the war.
I was not moved by a loyalty to a particular party or persona but rather to a love of my people.
I listened to a select few Iraqis support the war initiative saying that Saddam Hussein's removal could only be brought about by foreign intervention.
However, what was missing from this argument was the price such regime change would cost the Iraqi people.
Furthermore, what alternative would fill the socio-political, economic, and hierarchical vacuum left behind by such a removal?
While certain pundits waved the flags of liberty and democracy, Iran planned how to infiltrate every level of government in the new Iraq.
This would facilitate a new Iraq remoulded as an extension of Iran.
More Iraqi Voices on openDemocracy, including:
"The day Iraqis have waited for, Zaid Salah" (December 2005)
"I am an Iraqi journalist", Alia Amer (June 2005)
"Parallel politics in Iraq", Yahia Said and Mary Kaldor
(March 2005)
"Iraq in the balance" a roundtable discussion with Dlawer AlaAldeen, Hayder alFekaiki, Yousif alKhoei, Maysoon Pachachi, Ahmed Shames, and Sami Zubaida
(June 2004)
Today, it is painfully clear there is no government in Iraq. Iran is the winner of the US gambit in the region and is as adamant as the US military to maintain a permanent presence in the oil-rich, mostly Arab neighbour.
Iraqis, tired and bloodied by incessant fighting between many domestic and imported forces, are leaving the country en masse.
The academics who would form the backbone of any reconstruction effort have left the country as well, preferring flight to risk of targeted assassination.
Militias, poorly disciplined and guided by fanaticism from Saudi Arabia and Iran, walk the streets killing at random. Or worse, by design.
Iraqi society, already debilitated by 13 years of sanctions, has been traumatized to the point of numbness.
This is the Iraq of today. Not a free, liberated, prosperous country but one of mayhem, malice and mismanagement.
Political and military experts like to use the word quagmire a situation where you are damned if you do and damned if you don't.
Iraq is damned if US troops withdraw and damned if they don't.
Hope? It is futile to hope. Perhaps, one can hibernate the senses for a decade or two and revisit the Iraq question.
But for now, hoping is a fool's luxury.
Dlawer Ala'Aldeen, academic
Life has gone either much worse or much better than before the war, depending on which part of Iraq one looks at. Baghdad is in a complete mess. Terror, violence, corruption, chaos and political stalemate have brought the capital to its knees. People in Baghdad feel insecure, pessimistic, helpless and live in constant fear and depression. Many Baghdadis will tell you that life under Saddam was much better in many ways.
The war lords of Iraq's Sunni- or Shi'a-populated Arab domains have made their respective areas ungovernable. Life in the Sunni controlled areas has become unbearable in the presence of terror, violence, neglect and lack of business opportunities. Of course, for people in this part of Iraq, life was much better under Saddam, hence their sentiments, inability to reconcile with the new reality and their support (or complacency) of terrorism.
Life in the Shi'a south is of course better than before the war. The people are free to exercise their religious rituals and ceremonies and their economy is improving. However, corruption, power struggle, cleric's dominance, Iranian interference and lack of freedom of expression are making daily life miserable for most. For the enlightened secular intellectuals, life has gone back to middle ages.
In contrast, life in Kurdistan has improved immensely since the war. The economy is booming, unemployment is down to minimum and the standard of living has risen. The people have experienced greater freedom of expression and human rights. However, major obstacles for progress include corruption, KDP-PUK's monopoly of power and lack of tangible progress in unifying the two administrations. The Regional Parliament is devoid of power with no constitution adopted so far and little progress achieved in establishing democratic institutions. The people of Kurdistan expected more but are getting less from their political leaders, hence the volatility of the situation. Reasons for concern (potentially explosive issue) is the lack of progress in "normalization" in Kirkuk, Khanaqin and other Kurdistan areas which remain outside the region's administration.
Iraq is a political and military theatre where the regional powers are settling scores with the superpower. Iran and Syria have succeeded in complicating life for the US. The Iraqi Shi'a politicians (hostages of Iran's strategic interests) must be freed from their sponsors before progress can be made. America's policies (if they existed) have so far failed, and her actions show evidence of hopelessness and offer no reason for optimism.
My only hope is for the international community to increase the pressure on Iran (using the nuclear issue) to persuade or force it to keep hands off Iraq. By stopping Iran, Syria and Turkey from interfering in Iraq, I have every reason to become optimistic. After all, the Iraqis have now accepted democracy and adopted a democratic constitution. I was pro-war in 2002/3 and I have not yet regretted it or changed my mind. On the whole, I still think life is better than before the war.
Zeyad A, dentist in Baghdad
It has been a long three years. I feel they have been more like a decade. Even the sanctions years and the Iran war were not this long.
Baghdad today bears little resemblance to the Baghdad I have always known. Baghdad was always a city of lively pleasures, even during wartime. Now, for every day you go to work, you stay two days at home.
You go out, never knowing if you will return home or not. You dodge bullets, bombs and death squads even at the safety of your own home.
You have learned to put up with six hours of electricity a day; with waiting to fill up your tank in a two-kilometre line at the gas station, or with buying it at triple prices off the black market; with stockpiling food, water, gas and drugs every few days, not knowing what crisis is coming next.
There is no more sanctity for life, or even death for that matter.
Im not saying that life before the war was heaven, but at least there was no lurking threat of death around every corner. Iraqis learned how to survive. They are still doing their best to cope today.
Tahrir Abdul Samad Numan, Iraqi exile and peace activist
If there is an Iraq that is witnessing progress and democracy, it must exist but on a different planet and in a parallel universe!
What with a non-existent government, complete break down of law, order and authority, fuel shortages, dirty drinking water, and limited electricity, everyday is a battle for survival. People are living in constant fear; they are being imprisoned without trial, detained and tortured without redress or accountability by the "officials in charge". Is this what the people deserve in post Saddams Iraq? It is like living in an endless nightmare.
No one wants to live under a brutal dictatorship, but there were other choices for getting rid of Saddam, other than a devastating war and a brutal occupation. More Iraqis are being killed and dying under torture than during Saddams time. Friends of my brother who have been tortured under Saddam are themselves now saying "life was better under the dictator, at least we had some sort of normality and stability then".
We have a helpless, sovereignty lacking government that is effectively a hostage to the US protection. The awful events occurring in Iraq will have an adverse effect on real democracy taking root. Already people are losing faith in the process as one election after another fails to improve their miserable lives and end their nightmare.
Iraq desperately needs rebuilding of its basic services and infrastructure; we have qualified engineers willing, able and experienced. The US should stop treating Iraq as if it a prize it has won, take courage in admitting its failure and with the help of the international community work towards handing Iraq back to the Iraqis.
