Monday 12 July 2010

New Orleans Vs. Baghdad


News flash, Baghdad biggest lover had to say good bye and move to the United States, at least for a while. When I first arrived to the states in mid April, a TV show Called ( Treme) started on HBO . It tells the story of post Katrina New Orleans. As I watched Treme’s episode go one by one, I could not help but notice the similarities between New Orleans and my old beloved city… Baghdad.

Just like New Orleans, Baghdad was devastated by a nameless hurricane. Iraqis refer to it by simply “The Fall” in reference to the fall of Baghdad in April 9th 2003. Many Baghdad lovers, including me, prefer to think of it as the fall of Saddam’s regime rather than the fall of their magnificent city .

The thousands, who had to leave their houses , neighborhoods and friends and move to other states like Texas, reminds me of all the Iraqis, who were scattered inside and outside Iraq due to the violence and blind Killing and hatred that enclave their country. It is the most devastating thing that you leave your own home, which you own, and go somewhere else. I know it firsthand because it happened to me ...twice actually. first time was back in late 2006, when I left my house, which I own, and rented a small 2 bed room apartment in Karada, closer to my work, because traveling back and forth to work was getting more life threatening and more scary. And now when I had to leave Baghdad and move as a refugee to the United States.

One scene in Treme in particular immediately took me back to the darkest days of the sectarian violence in Baghdad. The scene where there were lots of white trailers in which dead bodies were kept for people to come and identify their missing family members and loved ones. This immediately took me back to the notorious Baghdad morgue. With an average of over 70 dead bodies retrieved from the streets of Baghdad at a certain period of time in late 2006 and early 2007, Baghdad morgue was so full that they used to have bodies lined up in the front lawn and yard of the morgue. What was even worst, is that the morgue was dominated by Shiat militias loyal to Moqttada Al-Sadr ,who would wrap up the relatives who would come to claim the bodies of their relatives and kill them as well. This forced many families to send only women to claim the bodies, or pay the militia men as much as 1 Million Iraqi Dinnar to get the bodies out to the families. Finally some people volunteered to take pictures of the unidentified bodies and started to bury them in numbered graves in Karbala south of Baghdad. Now there is a room at Baghdad morgue were families are still coming and looking at dozens of pictures in big TV screens trying to identify loved ones, who have been missing for a long time.

Great city with character and soul like New Orleans would never die as long as there are great New Orleans ‘s Lovers who would make sure that they will have The Jazz and Blues be heard all over the cafes and bars of their city. People making sure that the Mont Grow take place and Indians dance in the streets of New Orleans. So is the case with Arabian Nights’ Baghdad. Every time I went and covered a theater group, or Movie lovers setting up screens to project Iraqi Movies produced after the war, at the sites of bombings in Baghdad. What gives me more Hope is that all those Iraqi artists and movie makers are in their twenties and doing a marvelous job, against all odds.

I do not need to go through how well the US military handled the situation in both cities.

The Only difference between New Orleans and Baghdad is that Katrina took place in a single day and people had to deal with its consequences for a long time and the city of New Orleans is trying to recover from that single blow. Baghdad is living its Katrina for over 6 years now, and as people got exhausted from hearing about what happened in New Orleans and about Katrina and they decided that they want to hear no more, same is with Iraq, no matter how many Ktrinas or people die in Iraq no one wants to hear about it.

10 comments:

iwasthere said...

I like the way you connected the two stories, I will add in here people know who killed their relatives, but in Iraq people did not know the killers and will never; more over, God stopped the first one after one day but he could not stop the second one that took place in Iraq..
I fled Iraq and saved my family and my self, now I am living in the US, but,

I was there..

Mister Ghost said...

Hello I Was There,
I often wondered how your emigration to the US worked out. Did you have to start off from scratch, which I remember you were nervous about doing? And you killed your old blog. I thought that your Wolves at the door post was one of the best in Iraqi blog history.

There's been many problems with Iraqi emigrants in the US - the resettlement agencies just dump them off in whatever city, and with the high rates of unemployment, there are no jobs, and with the country in a mini-depression, we frankly need to limit immigration. There just aren't the public resources available at this period in time.

New Orleans is doomed. From what I understand the entire state of Louisiana is below sea level and sometime in the future, there will be a Category 5 hurricane that finally finishes New Orleans off... and it won't be worth rebuilding.

Lynnette In Minnesota said...

Al-Rasheed,

I just found your blog through the latest incarnation of Iraqi Blog Count. :) Interesting comparison you drew between New Orleans and Baghdad. Hopefully they will both come back stronger than ever (don't listen to Mr. Ghost, he's a pessimist. ;)) I wish you good luck here in the states.

Iwasthere,

I hope you are doing well where you are at. Mr. Ghost is right in that it can be difficult for newcomers right now. It's difficult enough for some of those born here.

Mr. Ghost,

It's nice to see a familiar face from the old days. :)

Don Cox said...

Good to see that "I was There" is still alive. I was sorry when your blog stopped.

It would be interesting to read more of the experiences of Iraqis in the US and Europe. How about starting up your blog again?

Anonymous said...

I would like to exchange links with your site www.blogger.com
Is this possible?

Anonymous said...

Al-Rasheed,
Glad to hear a new post from you, sorry to hear you had to leave Iraq for America. How is America treating you thus far?

Best wishes!

Unknown said...

muy bueno tu blog

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