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| A
car bomb at the 14th of July Bridge entrance to the
"Green Zone" in May |
“Should
be time for the daily car bomb,” says a colleague as we
prepare to hit the streets, which are jammed with traffic. “We
haven’t had one yet, have we?”
As
temperatures rise and Iraqi tempers grow shorter today in
occupied Baghdad, people are finding creative ways to vent their
frustrations. One of the most popular has been using dark humor
to diffuse the frustration that grips most Iraqis today in their
capital city. Journalists, Western and Arab alike, who work
amidst the chaos, have adopted a strong sense of the black humor
themselves.
The
recent upsurge in random attacks has made traveling around the
capital city of Iraq both stressful and scary. One never knows
when they will be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and the
bottom line is that it could happen to anyone here. Many people
choose to stay in their homes as much as possible; but
inevitably, at some point everyone must venture out onto the
dangerous streets where US patrols lurk, as do the resistance
fighters who await them.
Oftentimes
cars drive the wrong way down the streets of Baghdad—each time
another car is quickly approaching us head on, my interpreter
will yell out, “Al-Huria! [the freedom]” Traffic used to be
tightly controlled under the regime of Saddam Hussein. Now, it
is utter bedlam, as drivers tend to go wherever they please in
efforts to avoid the horrendous traffic.
Oftentimes
we watch cars racing the wrong way down busy streets, and yell;
“Watch out! Here comes another liberated driver!”
“Should
be time for the daily car bomb; we haven’t had one
yet, have we?” |
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Without
much evidence of the new “freedom” promised by the US-led
occupiers, Iraqis make light of their dashed hopes by finding
this “freedom” wherever they can, even if it means making
light of breaking laws which used to exist here.
The
horrendous photos and stories coming out of the Abu Ghraib
prison aren’t something to laugh about, yet Iraqis are keen to
find ways to take the sting out of this tragedy as well. Even
the detainees themselves are using humor to diffuse the
atrocity.
One
detainee who was recently released from Abu Ghraib said, “The
Americans brought electricity to my a** before they brought it
to my house!”
Another
man, while discussing the atrocities which occurred while he was
in the dreaded prison, laughed when he told of how US soldiers
forced him to beat another detainee after having been beaten
himself. He laughed deeply while flopping his arms lazily about
the air simulating hitting someone and said, “I was so
exhausted that all I could do was lift my arms and let them fall
on him!”
Each
time another car is quickly approaching us head on, my
interpreter will yell out, “Al-Huria! [the freedom]” |
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He
then went on to tell of how when he was released from the
prison, the military drove him to Tikrit and dropped him there,
rather than leaving him in Baghdad where he lives. “They even
gave me a free tour of my own country.”
An
Iraqi family, who had their home shot with rockets by US
helicopters, mocked their tragedy as well. Standing underneath a
hole in the ceiling caused by one of the rockets, the owner of
the home said; “If I’d have wanted a sky-light, I would have
built it myself. But I guess the Americans are trying to remodel
our homes now in the New Iraq!”
Iraqis
aren’t the only people needing to make light of their
difficulties. US soldiers have resorted to making light of their
suffering as well. One soldier, sitting atop a tank near the
Sheraton Hotel in central Baghdad amidst blazing temperatures,
was overheard saying, “It’s like the beach—we have palm
trees and heat; all we need is the ocean and women in bikinis,
rather than people shooting RPGs at us.”
Another
soldier, referencing his perceived disorganization of the
mujahedeen in Fallujah during heavy fighting there in April,
said they fought with the tactic, “spraying and praying,”
regarding men who would pop out from behind a wall and shoot
wildly towards soldiers before disappearing again.
Yet
most of the dark humor seems to be produced by Iraqis
themselves, for it is they who are suffering the most under the
occupation.
An
interpreter friend of mine, citing how difficult it is for
Iraqis to enter the “Green Zone” of the Coalition
Provisional Authority, said that the best way is to have a
Westerner along with him. He calls it his “Rent a whitey,”
program, and says that it works like a charm every time.
Regardless
of the difficulties that confront the people of Iraq every day,
they have obviously not lost their humanity nor their sense of
humor about their situation, as they are left without many
options in dealing with it.
“I
can either laugh, cry, or pick up a weapon,” said one Iraqi
who works as an interpreter, “So I try to laugh while hoping
something will change here.”
Nagem
Salam
is
an American journalist of Lebanese descent who has worked in
Iraq for a total of four months since the Anglo-American
invasion of spring 2003. His articles focus on Iraqis, and how
the occupation of their country affects their daily life.
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