Baghdad Family

Experiences of one middle-class family in Baghdad today. Excerpt:

"A pregnant friend of the daughter-in-law was supposed to have a Caesarean section within 10 days. But her doctor has vanished. Hospital after hospital, overwhelmed with the task of preparing for the wounded, has refused to admit her. Another friend who is seven months pregnant has begun taking Valium. A neighbour said she stuffed cotton in the ears of her two young children every night. She fretted about finding diapers and milk.

When it came to the cause of Iraq’s predicament, family members pointed to Saddam, describing him as rash. He invaded Iran, trapping them in an eight-year war. He seized Kuwait, bringing on the Persian Gulf War and the devastation of sanctions that largely wiped out Iraq’s middle class. But they bitterly denounced the war the US has launched. To this family, the assault is an insult. It is not Saddam under attack, but Iraq, they said.

It is hard to gauge if this is a common sentiment, although it is one heard more often now. ‘‘We complain about things, but that doesn’t mean cooperating with foreign governments,’’ the father said. ‘‘When somebody comes to attack Iraq, we stand up for Iraq. That doesn’t mean we love Saddam, but there are priorities.’’

A friend of the family interrupted. ‘‘Bombing for peace?’’ he asked, shaking his head. ‘‘I don’t even care about the leadership,’’ the daughter-in-law said. ‘‘But someone wants to take away what is yours. What gives them the right to change something that’s not theirs in the first place? ’I don’t like your house, so I’m going to bomb it and you can rebuild it again the way I want it, with your money’? I feel like it’s an insult, really.’’