The threat on Iraq hits home for one Bryn Mawr student...
I was born in the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts. My mother is American, also from the Boston area, of Irish/Celtic heritage... So far I seem like your typical kid, right? A kid that wouldn't really care too much (until maybe very recently) about anything going on in 'that other side of the world'. It is my father's addition to my lineage that I believe has enhanced my consciousness of the events of the world, as well as fostered a personal empathy for any being threatened by war. My father is Iraqi, born and raised in Baghdad...the very city that the U.S. now threatens to bomb into non-existence.
My father left Iraq permanently as a young adult in the early 80's due to the devastating Iran-Iraq war, beginning to take a great toll on the country even at that time when it was in its early stages; that war alone ravaged the country, not ending until 1988--nine years after it started, and wasting millions of lives. Iraq did not even have a chance to set its feet on the ground before being blasted again...this time by aggressors from the far west--mainly the U.S. and U.N. In this war, the actual bombing only lasted days, rather than years, but the effects were decimating just the same. Hundreds of civilians were killed in the Gulf War. The U.S. tested out some of its new weapons like eager children with new toys; like the experiment with Hiroshima that the U.S. conducted to make sure that its weapons would really cause mass devastation as the scientists and tests indicated they would, weapons were again tested on the spot to make sure that they did what their blue prints said they should. There were the special missiles that they used to explode multi-level concrete, underground bomb-shelters that were protecting innocent civilians--women and children included. Of course one must not forget the depleted uranium that they used...much of it still surfaces today, usually in a child's hands, being played with as a toy. Then there was the high-tech 'guided missile' that supposedly could be aimed at and actually hit only the intended target...um, unless the intended targets were innocent civilians (which the U.S. claims were not the intended targets, but merely "collateral damage"), the 'guided missile' was a misguiding claim.
One must not forget what is perhaps the most pressing issue: the ongoing economic embargo on Iraq. Known to most people simply as 'the sanctions', this policy of the west, with recently only the U.S. still strongly adhering to it, has caused overwhelming ruin over the past 11+ years; this after 2 almost back-to-back wars. The sanctions have deprived all civilians from basic needs such as simple but life-improving/saving medicines, basic medical technology, and basic medical care. It has caused nutritional deprivation and starvation, especially among children under the age of 5, leading to stunted growth among the children that have survived, though millions have not.
Due to the sanctions, the economy has been strangled; most people cannot even find jobs, and the Iraqi unit of currency has been completely devalued. There has been a brain-drain in the country: those who had the means have left, leaving a deficiency of teachers, doctors, and other professionals needed to maintain a functional society.
Millions of civilians have been forced to flee as refugees. It takes thousands of dollars per person to 'get out', and even then, there is no guarantee that you will make it through the journey across hostile borders, through dangerous, rugged cold mountains where you have to walk hundreds of miles on foot. Even if you make it to the country of your destination, you have to hope that the officials believe that you are fleeing as a refugee from Iraq and not trying to sneak in from another country. You have to convince them to let you stay and give you refugee status, the green light that you can remain and try to collect yourself to live a 'normal' life again. Many of the people that have come into these (usually western European) countries have come alone, leaving their loved ones behind in 'safety' in Iraq so that they can make the dangerous journey without endangering their loved ones. They then have to wait for the harbouring country's government to give them a 'green light' to send for their families from Iraq. This process can take years, leaving fathers separated from wives, parents from children for a long span of time.
My own uncle is a refugee. He was forced to flee for political and medical reasons. At the critical time when he was finally able to get enough money and an excuse to leave Iraq, his wife was pregnant and his daughter was 2 ½ years old. After the long journey to Europe, which included many months of wait in surrounding Middle Eastern countries, and walks through the mountainous regions of Europe (which are very difficult, especially if you have a medical condition), he had to go through the long process of obtaining refugee status. During this time, his wife went into labour back in Iraq and lost her baby due to lack of proper medical facilities to handle the simple complication that occurred. My uncle was still waiting for permission to send for his wife and daughter, so there was nothing he could do to help (refugees are not allowed to leave the harbouring countries for a certain amount of time).
By the time my uncle received the approval needed to send for his wife and daughter, it had already been more than a year and a half since he had seen them. By the time they were actually able to leave Iraq themselves (for it still takes money and a special travel plan to get to Europe, even if you have approval to go there) and finally reached Europe, it had been over 2 years since they had first separated. My uncle hadn't seen his young daughter in such a long time, and had missed such a crucial part of her developing life; she herself hadn't had any idea of what had happened to him: one day he was there, the next he wasn't, and there were only the occasional and very difficult to maintain phone calls from him in between his 'disappearance' and her coming to Europe and seeing him again (communications in Iraq were also destroyed during the Gulf War so that even a phone call is no longer a simple issue.) It is so difficult to portray the emotions that these situations evoke, and to emphasize the tragedy that so many families have gone through similar such trauma.
The situation in Iraq is still horrible. Hundreds of Iraqis still try to leave Iraq everyday to seek a more humane life in another country. Already, over four million Iraqis have left. The people have suffered so much devastation and lost so much already, it is difficult to imagine what could possibly be left of their morale and humanity if they have to suffer yet another war. Please keep this in mind when you are making/supporting decisions as an informed citizen.
