Ed Kinane
Voices in The Wilderness
Baghdad
September 21, 2003

SEEKING PROFESSOR DR. ALIM

At 10a.m. Cathy and I set out with Mr. Waddah in his old car for the Al-Mustansirya University’s College of Medicine. Mr. Waddah has long been associated with Voices in the Wilderness and Iraq Peace Team. Having been attached to the Iraqi UN delegation, he lived in NYC for a couple years back in the nineties. Being linked to the ancient regime as a former government minder, these days Mr. Waddah is “between things” and most willing to be at our disposal.

At the medical college we learn that Dr. Alim Yaqoub is out of town and won’t be back until tonight. This isn’t the first time Cathy and Mr. Waddah have tried to find him. Cathy is particularly interested in linking up with him to discuss the depleted uranium issue in hopes of helping to facilitate research on the ground here. She has correspondence from medical people in the States who think it would be good if Dr. Alim could attend an international conference on DU in late October in Germany.

At the medical college we meet Dr. Jamal Rasheed who provides us with the April and July 2003 issues of the Iraqi Journal of Community Medicine quarterly [volumes 16 (2 &3)] . Dr. Alim is on the board of editors of the April issue and is the editor-in-chief of the July issue. Most of the articles are in English. Given the givens, I’m pretty impressed that this community of medical folks has managed to publish these publications. I look forward to checking out some of the articles. Cathy and Mr. Waddah will try to catch up with Dr. Alim tomorrow.

DEPLETED URANIUM IN BASRAH

In our office library is volume I of the Proceedings of the Conference on the Effects of the Use of Depleted Uranium Weaponry on Human and Environment in Iraq (26-27 March 2002, Baghdad). One the articles has been co-authored by Cathy’s friend, Alim Yacoub, Dean and Professor, College of Medicine, Al-Mustansiriya University: “The evidence for causal associatin between exposure to depleted uranium and malignancies among children in Basrah by applying epidemiologcal criteria of causality,” pp.87-97. From the abstract: we “examine the association between exposure to depleted uranium and the rising incidence of malignancies (specifically leukaemias) among children in Basrah, southern Iraq following the 1991 military aggression on Iraq. These criteria include time sequence, dose-response relationship and consonance with existing knowledge.

“The rise in the incidence rate of malignancies among children have been found to be noticeable from 1995 onwards (7.8/100000 in 1995, 10.7/100000 in 1999 and 13/100000 [in 2000] compared to only 3.98/100000 in 1990). Such trend fulfills time sequence criterion whereby the outcome follows a latency period of almost 4 years following exposure to depleted uranium. Examination of the geographical distribution of such malignancies in Basrrah over the period from 1993 to 2000 reveals that areas to the west of Basrrah city (where levels of contamination of soil, plants and water with D.U are higher) have higher incidences of malignancies compared to areas to east or south east. This finding fulfills dose-response criterion. The shift of the incidences of leukaemias in recent years towards younger children (below 5 years of age) supports the criteria of biological plausibility, specificity and consistency with findings from other parts of the world which have been exposed to ionizing radiation.” [p.87, verbatim; original spelling retained].

POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER

From an article in the July 2003 Journal, “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in Diwania’s Children related to War” by Ali A. Alhamzawi & Nasma Naji AL-Hajia, pp:220-223:

“From first March to first April 2001 a total of (100) children of secondary school age in Diwania…were interviewed to assess the psychological impact of the war committed by America against our country.” Although there have been many assaults on Iraq since 1991, presumably “war” in this context refers to the First Gulf War.

“Result of Post Traumatic stress reaction checklist demonstrate that the majority of the children interviewed suffer from anxiety and fear associated with memories of the aggressive war. The children still suffer from the immediate impact of the event as well as the grief associated with the loss of close friends and relatives.”

“55% of interviewed children continue to dream of the event. 65% were having difficulties falling or staying asleep because of the memory. 60% find difficulty in concentration or paying attention on things more than before. 75% of the children find little joy in sport, in playing with friends and other similar activities. 58% of the children worry that they may not live to become an adult.” [p.220]

It would be telling to interview “terrorists” from the Middle East and elsewhere to see to what extent they may have suffered from childhood PTSD. Of course this leads to the inevitable question: to what extent have the Bush administration terrorists suffered from PTSD?

ICRC

Our next stop is the ICRC [International Committee of the Red Cross] Iraq headquarters. About three weeks ago when Cathy went to the CPA palace she met with a Judge Campbell. He gave her a printout of about 5000 prisoners being held by the CPA, saying she could return in about three weeks for an updated version. Campbell said he couldn’t give her the list of military prisoners, but that she could get that from the ICRC.

After being escorted to a security office and after exchanging our ID for a pass, we meet with ICRC media officer Nada Doumani [baghdad.bag@icrc.org]. She makes it clear that, for reasons of confidentiality, the ICRC would not give out such a list. Nor, for security reasons, is their building any longer a place where Iraqis can come seeking info on detained relatives. She says they are now referred to the Humanitarian Assistance Center (in Hai al Adel, Baghdad’s central market). It used to be that there would be crowds of Iraqis out front of the ICRC - a too tempting target for mischief. And, indeed, the ICRC is sandbagged with a string of 50-gallon cement-filled drums forming a perimeter against any errant vehicle bashing its way thru.

Nada prints out for us an article with stats on CPA detainees:

“ABU GHARIB, Iraq, Sept 16 (AFP) - US officials said Tuesday they were holding 10,000 prisoners in Iraq, nearly double the number previously reported….” (Abu Gharib is a major prison. Shortly before the invasion Saddam released its many hardened prisoners - most likely some of these contribute to the current crime wave.)

THE PALACE

Next we ask Mr. Waddah to drop us off at Bremer’s Palace Cathy is hoping to revisit Judge Campbell. A dozen Iraqis are seeking entrance; we are waved to the head of the line. (Whose country is this?!) Our IDs are sufficient to get us inside the compound - a vast area, possibly measured in square miles. As we could see from the Al Fanar across the river, this site was being bombed repeatedly during the invasion. Thanks to “smart” bombs, only some of its buildings were destroyed.

Inside we catch a shuttle bus to the CPA HQ, a kind of inner sanctum, with its own heavy security. From outside we can see a large building with wings that is crowned in several places by massive glowering busts of Saddam. From a distance it’s hard to know how large they are. Are they 12, 20 or 30 feet high? In any case, I suspect that they were constructed so that they couldn’t be removed without irreparably damaging the building. Such was Saddam’s cunning.

Is this deification purely a matter of vanity? Or is there method in the megalomania? Big brother makes sure everyone knows he’s watching. When the owl hoots, the mouse shivers and discloses her hiding place. Where did that peasant kid from Tikrit get all these ideas? The author Aburish says that in one of Saddam’s bedrooms - keeping his whereabouts unknown, he slept in a number of palaces — he had an extensive library of books on Stalin. (One wonders if Bremer, in turn, has his shelf of books on Saddam.)

At the gate we are told things have changed and we can’t enter without an appointment. Can we have Judge Campbell’s number so that we can arrange that? No, that’s not available. “You can make an appointment through the Ministry of Justice.” Where’s that? “We don’t know; we’re not even sure it still exists.”

Cathy is incredulous…and persistent. She asks for the soldier’s name and writes it down. He turns us over to another security person who is more resourceful. He agrees to call the Judge’s office to have someone come out to talk with us. As we wait we watch soldiers entering; they must take the ammunition clip out of their weapons and discharge their weapon into a pile of sand to show it’s no longer loaded.

In a few minutes an Iraqi woman, Istabrah Saih Ahmed (the first name means brocade), comes out to speak to us. She is apologetic. She explains that Judge Campbell has left for the airport today; he no longer works here. They don’t know when his replacement will arrive. She takes Cathy’s contact info and says she will e-mail her when more is known. She says she’s a lawyer working as a translator.

Instead of walking back to the shuttle stop we decide to start walking down the road to see what we might see. Although we pass a heavily barb-wired airstrip with several helicopters parked there, no one interferes with our little jaunt. After a bit we flag down the first passing shuttle bus. At a checkpoint a soldier gets on and checks I.D. We don’t have the right I.D. for this particular bus’ destination, so we have to get off. We learn we should be heading for the north gate.

It’s mid-afternoon and very hot. We don’t really know where we are or which direction to walk in; the shuttle stops aren’t marked. This is a base to be driven, not walked. We haven’t had anything to drink in awhile, nor have we had any lunch. I begin to obsess about the pizza shop just inside the north gate that we saw on our way in. We’re on the brink of getting cranky.

We flag down a vehicle. A woman from Wales who works with an NGO dealing with kids with cardiac problems is with us in the backseat. A man in civilian clothes in the front tells us our driver, a Latino, is a lieutenant colonel; I tell them I’m honored. Soon we’re at the north gate.

After an over-priced pizza ($5) we walk out to the gate. Along the way we pass a bombed-out building. Cathy takes out her geiger counter to see if it registers any unusual radioactivity. It doesn’t. Is our gizmo defective? Or did the invaders anticipate using the palace for their HQ and so not use D.U. bombs on this special target?

THE MOSQUE

Later at the internet caf� near us on Karrada, I exchange pleasantries with a man and a woman working at the computers next to me. When there’s a lull in the electricity, we talk some more. Munaf al Ubeidi [mnafal-ubiedi@yahoo.com] and Anssam al Souf [phone 7780744] are university students taking a three-week computer course with several youngsters. They do this from 2 to 4pm several afternoons a week.

Munaf, who speaks halting English, tells me he is the son of Sheik al Ubeidi of the 14th Ramadan Mosque. That’s the mosque just east of the Palestine Hotel, across Ferdos Square, with the lovely blue dome. Munaf asks if I would like to visit there. Would I ever! We agree to meet there at 7pm.

Cathy heads back home and I stay at the caf� for the rest of the afternoon answering the accumulated e-mail. At about 6:40 I set off on foot along Karrada, past the famous Ali Baba monument, to the mosque. As is virtually always the case, I see no other Westerners among the throng on this bustling street. The gringos, they lie low.

Munaf is waiting for me at the mosque’s main gate. It’s locked behind us after we enter. Munaf brings me to his father’s roomy office. We take our shoes off before entering. The Sheik is a short, white-bearded, 73 year-old man. They immediately give me a book to look at. Except for a several-page introduction and captions, it consists of plate after plate of intricate geometric drawings. This is a sourcebook the Sheik compiled 50 years ago. It embodies the Baghdad tradition of such art - art applied to tiles and other ornamentation in mosques and other edifices.

A Dr. ____ has come in to translate. We spend maybe a half an hour pouring over the drawings with the Sheik explaining the significance of the various geometric shapes and the numerological theology they entail. Dr. ____ acknowledges that these matters are much too esoteric for his translating skills.

I ask the Sheik if he has students. The doctor explains that the Sheik taught a course to about 80 students, but of these only about three showed promise of continued work. He asks if I would like to become the Sheik’s student. I tell him what a poor undisciplined student I am.

Do I want more commentary on the book? I say I would love to see the tradition as it’s actually embodied in the mosque. We adjourn from the office to go into the mosque, lingering just outside it for a discourse on the geometric shapes found in the tiling there.

Later, within the mosque, the doctor explains the Sheik’s vision of gathering together students from various countries and from various religious traditions to study this tradition. I am asked - quite earnestly - if there is anything I can do to help facilitate this. I sense the Sheik is feeling his mortality and doesn’t want his art and understanding to pass with him into his grave. I say that I can e-mail my people back in the States to see if they could publicize the offer.

Let me take this opportunity, then, to ask any reader of these notes who knows of anyone who might have an interest in studying with the Sheik (as far as I know, he speaks no English) to be in touch with me. My sense is that for the right person(s), this would be a rare privilege.

The mosque is just as extraordinary on the inside as it is on the outside. It’s a huge, high-ceilinged carpeted room under the dome. Every inch of wall and ceiling is covered with intricate stone carving - in one of four different types of design: geometric, plant-like, and a couple of others I don’t now recall. In the center hangs a chandelier. (It’s nowhere near as dominating as the one in the mosque under construction in Basrah which I saw last winter - so large that it had to be assembled within the mosque itself).

For security, since it’s well after dark, Munaf insists on hailing a cab for me and accompanying me back to the house. His reference to “danger” is the only nod to the current circumstances that intrudes on the evening — though perhaps the two or three (respectful) references to Jewish tradition are a delicate way to check to see whether I’m Jewish. For example, in his commentary the Sheik links the six-pointed star - a very common figure on walls, etc. in Baghdad - to the Star of David.