| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| Sense of Calm Gives Way to Panic on the Streets of Baghdad |
| 2003-03-18 |
| After months of displaying business-as-usual calm even as legions of U.S. troops assembled within striking distance of Iraq, Baghdad residents showed signs of panic today at the prospect of an imminent U.S. invasion and the lawlessness that it may spark. People cleared stores of bottled water and canned food, converted sacks of Iraqi currency into dollars and waited in long lines for gasoline. Merchants fearful of looting emptied their stores of electronics and designer clothing, while soldiers intensified work on trenches and removed sensitive files from government buildings. People crammed into cars with their household possessions and drove out of the city. Business was brisk at stores selling guns and ammunition as customers hurried in ahead of an expected invasion. Is this Iraq or any place South of the Mason/Dixon line? Iraqis said publicly that they were arming themselves against the U.S. military, but many said privately that they were preparing themselves for the anarchy that could ensue from a collapse of the government. For months, this city of nearly 6 million people seemed impervious to the prospect of war. Residents boasted that U.S. threats were an everyday occurrence. Many insisted an invasion never would come to pass. Even if it did, they predicted, it would be similar to December 1998, when the United States fired cruise missiles at Baghdad for four nights, destroying several empty government buildings but doing little to affect the normal rhythms of life. People said that, in any case, stores would be stocked with food and filling stations with fuel. That was all under a previous administration, this president actually seems to mean what he says. But now, the grim likelihood of an attack has enveloped Baghdad. Although state-run television and newspapers have not emphasized the imminence of war, largely because President Saddam Hussein's government does not want to spark panic and a possible insurrection, many residents have relied on shortwave radios and word of mouth to keep abreast of diplomatic efforts to avert a conflict. By early this morning, the resolve of the United States and Britain to use force, voiced at a summit conference in the Azores on Sunday, had ricocheted around the city. A collective "Oh Sh*t" "We've heard the news," said Amal Medhi, 32, a mother of two young girls, as she waited on a busy street for her husband to pick her up — along with 18 bottles of water she had purchased. "An attack could happen at any time. Tonight. Tomorrow. So we must be prepared." Stay safe Mrs Medhi Bottled water appeared to be in short supply. Many shops that used to display ample stock on the sidewalk were stripped bare. Those that still had a few bottles were selling them for as much as three times the normal price. At Baghdad's main downtown market, one distributor hawked six-bottle packages from the back of a pickup truck after being mobbed by purchasers. Shopkeepers who had run out of water said they were not sure whether they would receive additional shipments. "The distributor told me maybe by Thursday," Sahid Abid, the owner of a small food store, said as he loitered on a front stoop normally covered with water bottles. "There's clearly a shortage." With bottled water in short supply, many residents turned to the next best thing: large plastic jerrycans, which they planned to fill with tap water. "This looks good," a stout, middle-aged woman said as she peered into a blue, five-gallon jug being sold by a sidewalk vendor. She bought two, the first supplies her family had purchased in preparing for war. She and others recalled the months after the 1991 Persian Gulf War, when Baghdad lacked electricity and running water, depriving people of not only lighting and air conditioning but also clean water and sewage treatment. Food production was affected, as was medical care. Outbreaks of cholera and typhoid erupted. "Should I fill my house with these?" she said, holding up two jugs. "There is only so much we can do. The rest is up to God." People here fear not just another wave of bombing — one that Western military analysts predict will be more intense than anything this city has experienced — but also the bedlam that might result if the government crumbles and U.S. forces do not quickly establish control. There is also a fear that residents of Baghdad's slums will spill into wealthy neighborhoods to loot homes and businesses belonging to people who have grown rich through oil smuggling and their connections to Hussein's government. Anxious shopkeepers hauled expensive merchandise, from refrigerators to wool suits, out of their stores. The owner of a kitchen appliances showroom ordered workmen to build a brick wall in front of his display windows. A few blocks away, Sami Alwan, the portly manager of an electronics store, watched as a dozen lanky workers wheeled out Chinese-made televisions and portable tape decks. He said they would be stored in his basement until the war ended. He said he feared looting, not by impoverished and angry Iraqis, but by U.S. troops. "They will come and take all of this," Alwan said, pointing to a stack of boomboxes made by a firm called Gosonic, a Panasonic knockoff. Such products are common in Baghdad because U.N. trade sanctions imposed after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait have restricted the import of Japanese brand-name electronic goods. When it was pointed out that U.S. soldiers have access to better electronic goods back home, Alwan was undeterred. "They are coming to rob Iraq," he growled. "It's not just our oil. They want everything." Jewelers fearful of robbery have been emptying their shops of gold and selling it to frightened residents who want to convert Iraqi banknotes, which feature a large visage of Hussein, into a medium they believe will hold its value if he is toppled. People with similar goals besieged currency exchange dealers, lugging in satchels of worn Iraqi dinars and leaving with small wads of $100 bills. Fears about a war sent the dinar sinking from about 2,500 to 2,800 to the dollar. "It's much easier to keep your money in dollars," said a man who heaved a burlap sack stuffed with 4 million dinars into the Beneficial Exchange office. He left with 15 $100 bills, neatly folded and tucked into the front pocket of his pants. In the future, he said, "dollars will be very useful." Somehow I'm surprised that $ are available in such supply. |
| Posted by:Domingo |
| #5 Actually, the crap the sensible ones are worried about is not what the Americans will do to them, but what they'll do to each other. And they've got guns. Why not start a revolt NOW? |
| Posted by: Ptah 2003-03-18 13:53:52 |
| #4 it is interesting though, that western reporters giving the "mood of bagdad" always seem to be speaking with educated, presumably Sunni residents. They dont seem to make it into the Shiite slums. Not to be too optimistic at this point, but its yet one mroe reason i dont trust press reports relating to public opnion in Bagdad. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-03-18 13:44:18 |
| #3 And here I thought Iraq dealt in euros. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-03-18 12:04:43 |
| #2 Time for a little redistribution of wealth, eh? Third World style. |
| Posted by: Domingo 2003-03-18 12:00:50 |
| #1 "There is also a fear that residents of Baghdad's slums will spill into wealthy neighborhoods to loot homes and businesses belonging to people who have grown rich through oil smuggling and their connections to Hussein's government." Time for a little redistribution of wealth, eh? |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-03-18 11:46:44 |