[lit-ideas] Green Republic in Iraq
- From: JimKandJulieB@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2005 04:53:19 EDT
This is Riverbend's latest post. If you don't know who she is, ask me. The
"Green Zone" news is particularly disturbing.
_Baghdad Burning_ (http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/) <<Tuesday, June 21,
2005
General Update...
The cousin, his wife S. and their two daughters have been houseguests these
last three days. They drove up to the house a couple of days ago with several
bags of laundry. âThere hasnât been water in our area for three daysââ
The
cousins wife huffed as she dragged along a black plastic bag of dirty
clothes. âThe water came late last night and disappeared three hours
laterâ what
about you?â Our water had not been cut off completely, but it came and went
during the day.
Water has been a big problem in many areas all over Baghdad. Houses without
electric water pumps donât always have access to water. Today it was the
same
situation in most of the areas. They say the water came for a couple of
hours and then disappeared again. Weâre filling up plastic containers and
pots
just to be on the safe side. It is not a good idea to be caught without water
in the June heat in Iraq.
âI need to bathe the children and wash all these clothes,â S. called to me
as the older of the little girls and I hauled out their overnight bag. âAnd
the sheets- you know nothing has been washed since last weeks ajajaââ We
call
a dust storm an âajajaâ in Iraq. I donât think thereâs a proper
translation
for that word. Last week, a few large ajajas kept Baghdad in a sort of pale
yellow haze. What happens when an ajaja settles on the city is that within a
couple of hours, the air becomes heavy and thick with beige powdery sand.
Visibility decreases during these dust storms and it often becomes difficult
to
drive or see out the window.
On such occasions, we rush about the house shutting windows tightly in a
largely futile attempt to keep dust out of the house. For people with
allergies
or asthma- itâs a nightmare. The only thing that alleviates the situation
somewhat is air conditioning. The air feels a little less dusty when thereâs
an
air conditioner pumping cool air into the room.
One dust storm last week was so heavy, E. slept for a couple of hours during
its peak and woke up with little beige-tipped lashes from the dust that had
settled on his face while he was dozing. You can even taste the dust in the
food sometimes. These storms can last anywhere from a few hours to several
days.
After the ajaja is over and the air has cleared somewhat, we begin the
cleaning process. By this time, the furniture is all covered with a light film
of
orangish dirt, the windows are grimy, and the garden, driveway and trees all
look like they have recently emerged from a sea of dust. We spend the days
after such storms washing, wiping, polishing and beating dust out of the
house.
âIâve been dying to wash the curtains and sheets since the ajajaââ S.
breathed, pulling out dusty curtains from the plastic bag. She paused
suddenly, a
horrific idea occurring to her, âYou have water, right? Right?â We had
water, I assured her. I didnât mention, however, that there had been no
electricity for the better part of the morning and the generator was providing
only
enough for the refrigerator, television and a few lights. The standard washing
machine consumed too much water and electricity- we would have to use the
little âNationalâ washing tub, or âdiaper machineâ as my mother called
it.
The pale yellow plastic washing tub is a simple device that is designed to
hold a few liters of water and to swish around said water with a few articles
of clothing tossed in and some detergent. Next, the clothes have to be removed
from the soapy water and rinsed separately in clean water, then hung to dry.
While it conveniently uses less water than the standard washing machine,
there is also a risk factor involved- a sock or undershirt is often sacrificed
to the little plastic blade that swishes around the water and clothes.
We spent some of yesterday and a good portion of today washing clothes,
rinsing them and speculating on how our ancestors fared without washing
machines
and water pumps.
The electrical situation differs from area to area. On some days, the
electricity schedule is two hours of electricity, and then four hours of no
electricity. On other days, itâs four hours of electricity to four or six
hours of
no electricity. The problem is that the last couple of weeks, we donât have
electricity in the mornings for some reason. Our local generator is off until
almost 11 am, and the house generator allows for ceiling fans (or
âpankasâ),
the refrigerator, television and a few other appliances. Air conditioners
cannot be turned on and the heat is oppressive by 8 am these days.
Detentions and assassinations, along with intermittent electricity, have
also been contributing to sleepless nights. Weâre hearing about raids in
many
areas in the Karkh half of Baghdad in particular. On the television the talk
about âterroristsâ being arrested, but there are dozens of people being
rounded up for no particular reason. Almost every Iraqi family can give the
name of
a friend or relative who is in one of the many American prisons for no
particular reason. They arenât allowed to see lawyers or have visitors and
stories
of torture have become commonplace. Both Sunni and Shia clerics who are in
opposition to the occupation are particularly prone to attacks by âLiwa il
Theebâ or the special Iraqi forces Wolf Brigade. They are often tortured
during
interrogation and some of them are found dead.
There were also several explosions and road blocks today. It took the cousin
an hour to get to work, which was only twenty minutes away before the war.
Now, he has to navigate between closed streets, check points, and those
delightful concrete barriers rising up everywhere. It is especially difficult
to be
caught in traffic and that happens a lot lately. Baghdad has been cut up
into sections and several of them may be found to be off limits immediately
after an explosion or before a Puppet meeting. The least pleasant situation is
to
be caught in mid-day traffic, on a crowded road, in the heat- waiting for
the next bomb to go off.
What people find particularly frustrating is the fact that while Baghdad
seems to be falling apart in so many ways with roads broken and pitted,
buildings blasted and burnt out and residential areas often swimming in
sewage, the
Green Zone is flourishing. The walls surrounding restricted areas housing
Americans and Puppets have gotten higher- as if vying with the tallest of date
palms for height. The concrete reinforcements and road blocks designed to slow
and impede traffic are now a part of everyday scenery- the road, the trees,
the shops, the earth, the skyâ and the ugly concrete slabs sometimes wound
insidiously with barbed wire.
The price of building materials has gone up unbelievably, in spite of the
fact that major reconstruction has not yet begun. I assumed it was because so
much of the concrete and other building materials was going to reinforce the
restricted areas. A friend who recently got involved working with an Iraqi
subcontractor who takes projects inside of the Green Zone explained that it
was
more than that. The Green Zone, he told us, is a city in itself. He came back
awed, and more than a little bit upset. He talked of designs and plans being
made for everything from the future US Embassy and the housing complex that
will surround it, to restaurants, shops, fitness centers, gasoline stations,
constant electricity and water- a virtual country inside of a country with
its own rules, regulations and government. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to
the
Republic of the Green Zone, also known as the Green Republic.
âThe Americans wonât be out in less than ten years.â Is how the argument
often begins with the friend who has entered the Green Republic. âHow can
you
say that?â Is usually my answer- and I begin to throw around numbers- 2007,
2008 maximumâ Could they possibly want to be here longer? Can they afford to
be
here longer? At this, T. shakes his head- if you could see the bases they
are planning to build- if you could see what already has been built- youâd
know
that they are going to be here for quite a while.
The Green Zone is a source of consternation and aggravation for the typical
Iraqi. It makes us anxious because it symbolises the heart of the occupation
and if fortifications and barricades are any indicator- the occupation is
going to be here for a long time. It is a provocation because no matter how
anyone tries to explain or justify it, it is like a slap in the face. It tells
us
that while we are citizens in our own country, our comings and goings are
restricted because portions of the country no longer belong to its people.
They
belong to the people living in the Green Republic.
- posted by river @ _3:21 AM_
(http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/2005_06_01_riverbendblog_archive.html#111931026591153031)
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