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| Iraq |
| Battle weary Iraqis shrug off threat of more conflict |
| 2003-02-10 |
| More banners carrying defiant slogans in English have been mounted on lamp-posts and the Iraqi currency is losing value by the day, but these are the only visible signs that Baghdad stands on the brink of war. The nice thing is, all those signs on the lamp-posts will provide the citizenry with all the wire they need to string up the Baathists. In a capital facing an onslaught from the mightiest military machine in history the complete lack of any obvious preparation gives the city an improbable air of calm. Wearied by 24 years of tyranny under Saddam Hussein, eight years of war with neighbouring Iran, the last Gulf war, countless allied air raids and 12 years of economic sanctions, Iraqis have become inured to crises. They greet the imminence of war with tired shrugs of indifference. This is better than fear. Is everyone getting the message that we don't want to target civilians? "I have seen two big wars, many battles, much fighting," said Khalil Ibrahim, 35. "We have passed through more difficult times than these and no, I am not afraid." Mr Ibrahim served in the Iraqi army for 11 years and now owns an antiques shop near Jamhuriya street in old Baghdad. If he served 11 years, he was just inducted around the time of GW I. That means he either saw it first-hand or heard about how Americans treat POWs and civilians from those who did. An air raid shelter near his home in the Adamiya area of Baghdad provides the only protection from the most powerful air force in the world. But Mr Ibrahim has no intention of using it. "If they bomb us I will stay in my house," he said. His personal preparations for war have amounted to nothing more than stockpiling some food and water. Nearby, Amer Subhi, 41, had taken one additional precaution. He had bought some candles. "Our electricity might be cut off," he said. But Mr Subhi had not troubled to discover whether there was an air raid shelter near his home. "I am not afraid," he said simply. Neither of these guys should worry; we're not after houses. If Saddam intends to make a last stand in his capital he has so far neglected the most basic preparations. No machine-gun nests overlook junctions, no tanks are deployed at strategic points, there are no slit trenches or sandbagged bunkers in open areas. All the tanks have been buried in the desert. Only the vertical barrels of anti-aircraft guns mounted on the roofs of tower blocks give a warlike impression. But these wholly ineffectual weapons have been in position since Saddam invaded Iran in 1980. The government has taken a few precautionary steps. When Iraqis exchanged their monthly ration coupons for food last week they were handed two months' provisions. Government ministries have been issued with emergency power generators. The influx of journalists and peace activists has spurred the regime to festoon Baghdad with more propaganda banners displaying the incomprehensible English beloved of Iraqi officials. One banner outside the al-Rashid hotel reads: "With the leader Saddam Hussein we will keep going the Iraq march for the faithful of the martyrs of the immortal." They're right. It's incomprehensible. Another carries a less ambitious slogan. "Down America," it says. The Iraq Daily, a faithful propaganda mouthpiece, carried the triumphant headline: "President Hussein receives telegram." Saddam had been sent the telegram by "some Baghdad's foreign exchange bureaux tell a different story. In the past six weeks the dinar has lost almost 20 per cent of its value and now stands at 2,370 to the dollar. The official line is that victory is certain. Meanwhile, Iraqis are jettisoning their worthless currency and buying dollars as fast as possible. What? Not francs and marks? |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #3 I've read better anti-American gibberish in the Axis of Weasel press (including the Al-Guardian of course) |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-02-10 19:22:45 |
| #2 I dunno. According to my reading, Neither of those guys ARE worrying... |
| Posted by: Ptah 2003-02-10 16:55:59 |
| #1 ooohhh,I'm scared! Belarus a powerful allie,isn't Belarus just a medium sized fish in a small,backwater pond? |
| Posted by: raptor 2003-02-10 06:09:58 |