INTERVIEW WITH DR. NADA H.

Dr. Nada H is a mother and pediatric dentist in Baghdad. She was interviewed in May, 2004.

Nada: The situation over in Baghdad is getting worse each month. A big mistake made by the Americans was allowing people to lose their jobs or not paying their salaries. Right now there is a phenomenon of kidnapping for money. Until recently rich people were kidnapped and ransom notes delivered to families with apologies suggesting kidnappers had no other way to make money while their own families starved. If older women were kidnapped and then released they were welcomed back into their families. But if younger women were kidnapped they tended to commit suicide or were killed by their families when they were returned; these killings were related to issues of family honor.

Nowadays there are many militias operating and each needs money for supplies so kidnap victims are famous and very wealthy people held for 250,000 or 300,000 dollars. We�e seeing famous male doctors (families won� necessarily pay to have women returned) or people who worked for the United Nations being kidnapped and ransomed. Actually, we don� even know who is behind many of these kidnappings.

People here are terrified.

Each day there are bombings and killing. And the looting is terrible. I�e seen US troops open private and governmental institutes and tell the simple people, �o inside. Ali Baba, Ali Baba! Go inside and take whatever you want.�That happened in the Iraqi National Museum, too.

Iraq doesn� have any kind of effective security force to help these situations. If a policeman captures someone in a criminal act and hands the thief over to the military, the military says to release the captive. They say there� not enough evidence to keep them and to just let them go. This doesn� work.

You should see the children. In the morning I work in a hospital with simple children who have never used toothpaste or a toothbrush before. When the aircraft fly over the building the children cower under the sounds. I give them materials to make drawings and the kinds of images they create show how traumatized they are. And their parents are traumatized too. Children are under the authority of their parents and if their parents are under pressure, the children will suffer. Right now everyone is under tremendous pressure. For example, if you want to fill your tank with gas you have to wait for up to four hours for gas. Getting to work is a huge problem and you can� simply just take a taxi as the costs have gone up so much that hardly anyone can afford taxis anymore. Right now standard Iraqi families don� own generators and family members are at home (since they don� have jobs anymore) sitting in the house (where they�e relatively safe) in 145 degree weather for twelve hours a day without electricity to run air conditioners.

Imagine an American family sitting at home during the day when temperatures are tremendously high and they can� get out of the house and go anywhere. If they wanted gas for their car they� have to pay more than they can afford or get it on the black market. All of this pressure is reflected in the children. Schools are open intermittently. Children are traumatized and this shows up in various ways. Some wet their beds. Some chew their nails. My brother, for example, turned into a nail-biter after the 1991 Gulf War. Some children refused to go back to school after their school building was bombed; their parents had to relocate them.

You won� believe this but I was one of the people who wanted and waited for this war to occur so that Saddam wasn� around anymore. I used to say that if Saddam was gone I would be the happiest person on earth, I� be able to pack my bags and travel to any country and not be suspected of being a terrorist, I� would see just justice in my college without having to belong to a socialist group to get my rights. But nothing has changed. I still can� travel anywhere but Jordan and that� only if the Jordanian government is kind enough to let me visit. Yes, there are certain people still playing their games and getting what they want. But we�e still classified as a terrorist country. I feel ashamed of myself because I� an Iraqi person. I feel rejected by the society of the wider world.

Many Iraqis believe that Iraq won� get much power after the June handover. They don� believe that the Americans will give much power to Iraq but will keep their hands on many ministries to keep the upper hand. Plus, Iraqis believe that any Iraqis who do take positions of power in the new government will be the puppets of the Americans so they won� have faith in Iraqis who do take power. Most of all, the people who go on TV and say, �et the Americans out of our country,�don� really mean that. They believe that if that happens there will be a civil war here and that it is only the Americans who stand between the chaos we have now and civil war.

Many of us here don� know what is driving many of the militias other than a power grab. Some seem to feel disrespected because they did not get any power in the new power structure. Some are simply feeling rejected because they have nothing left, no jobs, no power, and nothing to lose. Some are from the former Iraqi military. And some are from outside the country. One of the worse things the Americans did was not protecting Iraq� borders. Now weapons are available from anywhere if you have the money to buy them. Weapons are also available from previous Iraqi forces. Americans also permitted the looting of weapons storage facilities. I�e seen bombs being sold in front of American troops who allowed it to happen. We don� know why. I believe that many American actions in Iraq come from naivet, that Americans don� know what is and what isn� culturally provocative here.

The whole episode with Achmed Chalabi, for example, was watched with great skepticism as he was considered a fool over here. Yet the Americans were taking him so seriously. Then, after the relationship soured between the Americans and Chalabi, many Iraqis believed the break was really a set up and another way to ingratiate Chalabi to Iraqis. They said, �hey (the Americans) will wash his face and set him up as our puppet and we�l believe he� on our side." But most Iraqis hate Chalabi� guts, he� considered a clown and an unrespectable person. He� been convicted for fraud in Jordan and no Iraq person would accept him in a place of power. In fact, many people wish the former king and prince would come back to rule again.

There is talk about Shari� law being instituted again but I believe the Americans would never allow another regime like that in the region. I don� see it happening here. I� a person who wears T-shirt and jeans in the streets and not many women wear veils in Baghdad. If Shari� becomes the law I� leave. Many of us say we� rather have Saddam than Shari� and we certainly don� want Saddam back! When the Christians ruled the country we called it The Dark Ages and we don� want that again. We won� �and the US won� �accept that. Bush already told Saudi Arabia to �lear your back yard,�and there� not way they�l accept that here. Even during Saddam regime� Najaf and Karbala were different and women had to veils there but it won� spread.

We are really living a very hard nightmare, we have no electricity, no gas, no future. The future is so vague, so scary, and we�e just growing old with no hope. There is so much violence everywhere. I wish we could live in a country with democracy and freedom and that I could wake up in the morning without hearing bombs.

But let me say that I�e seen American soldiers helping injured Iraqi people. They have been so polite. And they are so young! It is a shame to see such young soldiers doing the kind of work over here that they are having to do. But I don� blame the simple American soldiers for this. Rather, I believe the soldiers are victims the same way that we, the Iraqi people, are victims. 

It is political dirty work that is responsible for what we are going through, it is the White House and the Saddam regime.