Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
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Revue <strong>de</strong> Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka<br />
Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro <strong>de</strong> la Prensa-BasmÖz<strong>et</strong>i<br />
Unfazed, Iraqis cling to living<br />
','3 normallife',<br />
BAGHDAD: As theItaqi Airways Boeing 747lifted<br />
off and banked to the east, the captain took to the<br />
public-address system ~th <strong>de</strong>tails of the day's flight.<br />
Destination: Basra. Flight time: 50 minutes. Cruising<br />
altitu<strong>de</strong>: 25,000 fe<strong>et</strong>. Sit back. Relax. Enjoy the flight.<br />
, What went unmentioned, but was eminently obvious<br />
to everyone on board, was that the plane would<br />
be flying straight through';lbout 240 kilo~<strong>et</strong>ers (150 ,<br />
miles) of airspace <strong>de</strong>signated by the United States '<br />
and Britain as a "no-flight" zone. Any Iraqi plane that. ,<br />
crosses the 32nd parallel, which was just a fe~ '<br />
minutes away, is in theory fakgame<br />
ish fighters. ,~: ';",<br />
for U.S. and Brit-<br />
,'<br />
"Don't worry," said Ali Hussein, ilsuave young man '<br />
assigned by th~ Information<br />
. ,,-,'. . ,. .~<br />
Ministry to escor,t for-<br />
. " '"<br />
eign journalists: through ,Iraq. "TheY've' ~n flying<br />
this route tWice a day for ,months and nothmg's gone , '<br />
wrong." , '<br />
Nobodyelse<br />
.," " '.<br />
in the firS~-daSs cabin of the nearly<br />
,three-<strong>de</strong>ca<strong>de</strong>~old 'juD,lbo J<strong>et</strong> seemed the least blt<br />
fa~ed. Flight atteI;1dants ,paSsed out swe<strong>et</strong>, tea and<br />
'weak coffee. PeoPle, peeled open newspapers. After<br />
living ,un<strong>de</strong>r, <strong>de</strong>bilitating, economic 5!l~ctions ,an.d '<br />
threats sinc<strong>et</strong>he' end of the Gulf War ,ln 1991,lraqls<br />
have' il, tIU:esh,old for cOnCerti that is 'not what you<br />
mi~t ëxpecfëlsewhere. ,,', " "" •<br />
, ID fact, it is, practically ilnpossibl<strong>et</strong>o fmd an Jr:lqi<br />
who is making any personal arrangements for coPing<br />
with war with the United States. That is partly because<br />
Iràqis often <strong>de</strong>pend on food rations. But people just<br />
laugh when asked if they keep extra food and water on<br />
hand or if theythink a~t headitl$ out of town.<br />
"If ~e went shopping every 'tim<strong>et</strong>he Americans<br />
threatened us we would always be at the markét;"<br />
said Taha Mahmud Fatah, 39, a jeweler in the north~<br />
ern city of Mosul. .<br />
Iraqis say their attitu<strong>de</strong> is born not out of fatahsm<br />
or foolishness, but a <strong>de</strong>sire to live what several people<br />
here call "a normallife. " " '<br />
It is hard to know what normal is after more than<br />
two <strong>de</strong>ca<strong>de</strong>s of war and sanctions. This is a place<br />
where most government employees make less than $3<br />
a month. The rich use pUlstic bags as wall<strong>et</strong>s because<br />
<strong>de</strong>stinations once served by Iraqi' Air- The economy went to pieces. With<br />
the largest <strong>de</strong>no~nation bill is worth .12.5cents. The<br />
ways.<br />
'tax revenue scarce; officials opted to<br />
government says lt ~not afford to build 'schools, but<br />
' "We had a life that was as good as any print more mon~y to pay salaries,<br />
',European's," said Khalid Hassan, 54, a sparking massive inflation.<br />
there are no taxes on clgar<strong>et</strong>tes. .<br />
, "The government doesn't want to_tax atranqudgovernment<br />
employee. "Everything Multinational firms pulled out, and<br />
was in ouneach." infant mortality, malnutrition and dis~<br />
, izei." one ebahi-smoking Iraqi said Baghdad./.'legan to look like a large ease expan<strong>de</strong>d. Children quit school in<br />
'it was not always this way. Before 'city in the; American Southwest, dry droves to help their parents put food on<br />
1980, when Presi<strong>de</strong>nt Saddam Huss~in and flat, sprawling and scorching, with the table. "It has been <strong>de</strong>-<strong>de</strong>velopment,"<br />
launched a costly eight-year war With four-lane expressways, and elevated said Margar<strong>et</strong> Hassan, country director<br />
Iran, Iraq was <strong>de</strong>emed by the United roads. Tall hotels and limestone-walled for the aid organization Care Internagovernment<br />
ministries sprouted, as did' tionaL<br />
Nations to be one of the world's fastest<strong>de</strong>veloping<br />
countries. Saddam spent a trendy shopping areas and fancy res- But Iraqis never stopped trying for<br />
greater portion of oil revenue on social taurants. Because of generous loans that "normallife. " ,<br />
programs than any other Arab lea<strong>de</strong>r. ;offered by the government and because PepsiCo may have left Iraq, but Iraqis<br />
Mandatory childhood education and ,gasoline was nearly free, many resi~ ' continue to guzzle swe<strong>et</strong>, brown, fizzy<br />
,free night classes for adult women in- ,<strong>de</strong>nts bought new cars. , liquid that comes in Pepsibottles. The<br />
"creased the literacy rate to nearly 80 ,8y some estimates, Iraq suffere4 bottling plants are now run by Iraqis,<br />
, percent. Hospitals were stocke~ with 375,000 casualties in the war with Iran; who have tried with surprising s~ccess<br />
, medicines and equipment was lmpor- billions of dollars in oil revenue were to duplicate the genuine article.<br />
, ted from Europe. All sorts of products, diverted to pay for it. When the war fi- It is the same story for Sheraton Honally<br />
en<strong>de</strong>d, in 1988,people hoped for a .ftls S .. ' '000'"H ' .. , ' ' ,<br />
.,wh<strong>et</strong>her Italian shoes or Japanese television<br />
s<strong>et</strong>s, were subsidized by the government.<br />
Even midlevel civil servants va<strong>de</strong>d Kuwait, starting a second <strong>de</strong>bilit-, ,"" e .. , 0;' e in's parent company'<br />
" • LU.<br />
r<strong>et</strong>urn t'oprosperity, but tarw otels & ReSorts World-<br />
1D 1990,Iraq ln- wid IDe' th' cha'<br />
could afford to take their families on<br />
nQ,longer operates any properties here.<br />
ating war and bringing on tight UN eco- .But>that is not at all evÎ4eIit:iktb:e' imnomic<br />
vacations to J.>aris,London and Rome - sanctioqs.<br />
4