Stories from Iraq
The Forgotten Faces of Iraq
by Rick McDowell and Mary Trotochaud
(More about the authors.)
Every day we are overwhelmed with news articles and images from Iraq that paint a picture of a violent and fractured society. Death squads, terrorists, insurgents and militias are the words that define Iraq and her people. Car bombings, kidnappings, and assassinations shape our judgment of this beleaguered people.
Most certainly, Iraq today is a violent nation. But this very narrow vision of the country only encourages solutions that rely on further aggression to meet the violence. When media iconography of a country becomes synonymous with our understanding of it, then the people disappear and are forgotten. If we fail to recognize who the people of Iraq really are, how do we look for answers beyond “more soldiers and weapons”?
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Rick McDowell and Mary Trotochaud:
Photo: Dan DeLong |
The Iraq we know
This narrow, violent picture of Iraq is hard for us to reconcile with what we experienced of our Iraqi friends, neighbors and associates. After years of living and working in Iraq, we know that the majority of Iraqi people are tired of oppression, violence and war. We know the fathers who vowed never to let their sons go to war after, their own youth and dreams were lost to the wars of Saddam Hussein’s regime. We know the mothers who still encourage their children to go to school and study, despite the challenges of traversing a city of roadblocks, bombs and kidnappings. We know Iraqis to be doctors and medical workers, engineers, firemen, teachers and store clerks. We know Iraqis who refrain from picking up weapons, while risking their lives in pursuit of a homeland that is just and peaceful. These are the many faces of Iraq, and they are the forgotten ones.
A people like palm trees
Violence is not the face of the Iraqi people – it is the condition under which they live. Although the unremitting violence that has engulfed Iraq dictates how Iraqis presently conduct their daily lives, it does not define who they are.
Iraqis are deeply rooted to place and family. As an artist, Quasim, so eloquently explained to us shortly after we arrived in Baghdad in late April, 2003: "We are not grass, like the American civilization, with short roots. We are like the date palm trees, ten meters high, but with roots 20 meters deep. Our culture is 10,000 years old. It is our pride of heritage and long history that makes us want to do well for the future."
Iraqi heritage has influenced all of the cultures of the world and includes the treasures of Ninewah and Babylon; the basis for many legal systems in the code of Hamurabi; even the roots of the biblical creation centered between the two rivers, Tigris and Eupharates. That long history saw many invasions and occupations, resulting in a richly diverse population with many religions and ethnicities. Most Iraqis claim this diversity with pride. The sectarian divisions now in play are not strictly historical; they are being used by individuals and groups in a quest for power.
What do Iraqis want?
Certainly, a struggle for power has overtaken Iraq. It is a struggle that has been put in play and encouraged by the U.S.-led invasion, decrees, and continuing occupation of Iraq; a struggle that has been fed by years of rule by an oppressive and ruthless dictator, who often favored or punished different groups in order to maintain control. Whether this power struggle will play out violently or in a political compromise remains to be seen. What we know is that the violence of the U.S.-led war and occupation has failed to bring peace, while fostering more violence.
The future of Iraq must ultimately be in the hands of the Iraqi people. From our experience, the majority of Iraqis want the chance to form a peaceful and just nation.
Every couple of weeks, we call a very good friend in Baghdad. Our conversation always begins and ends the same way. We ask her, “How are you and the family?” and Rashad responds, “Alhamdul’ allah, we are alive. Praise be to God, we are alive.” At the end of the call, as we say our goodbyes, we say to each other, “Maa’ Assalama – Peace be with you.” This is Iraq today: a place where just being alive is a miracle and a reason to rejoice. And a people who still wish for themselves and for us that there will be peace.
About the authors>
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