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THE
ROVING EYE
Direct democracy in
action
By Pepe Escobar
HILLA
- Mr Iskander, a lawyer and former officer in the Iraqi
air force, married with four sons and five daughters,
sits behind his desk in a nondescript building formerly
used for religious meetings for Sunni and Shi'ite alike,
now guarded by five Marines. He receives a non-stop
string of visitors, juggling between as many as four
conversations simultaneously. Iskander is now the de
facto mayor of Hilla, a poor sprawling city of 2
million, 80 kilometers south of Baghdad, chosen through
consensus by the local population. This is Iraqi
democracy in action, the post-Saddam Hussein version.
Hilla is now largely peaceful. People are still
intrigued by the meaning of the letters "TV" spelled out
in black tape all over our car. Kids play soccer
oblivious to a passing sandstorm and next to a
miraculously non-defaced mural of Saddam, where he is
pictured between al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem and Ishtar
Gate in Babylon. Splendid, elegant (in a dusty way)
Shi'ite couples carry green flags with the inscriptions
"Ali" and "Hussein". Police officers now patrol the
streets and locals swear that there has been no looting
in Hilla. Food distribution has started - from a local
food warehouse, and organized by the same managers who
once worked for the Saddam government ("But now they are
free," said a grinning official at the new mayor's
office).
Iskander is in the middle of the
process of forming a new government. He lists his
priorities as oxygen for hospitals, equipment for water
purification and the reconstruction of the gas pipeline
between Basra and Hilla. Security, according to him, is
"very good" as proven by police officers coming back to
their old jobs. He expects the Americans to provide "new
uniforms and the new weapons to be used". He is "very
glad" with the American presence: "It was very good to
remove Saddam Hussein. No force could do it except the
US and the British." More than 100 American soldiers are
now stationed in Hilla, according to Iskander.
The people's priority, and the main subject of
talks with his visitors is, of course, security: "35
years of Saddam was too bad," he said, his cue to show
the visitor some gruesome pictures from 1998 of his
brother Jaffar, a victim of torture, under no specific
accusation, by Saddam's regime. He also shows Jaffar's
death certificate: "Dead under inquiry."
Sheikh
Salim Saed, an imposing figure in robe and
keffiah (head scarf) contrasting with his
sparkling blue eyes, is also in the room. He is the
supreme sheikh of the tribes of Shurfa (which means
"honesty" in Arabic). The sheikh's father was hanged by
Saddam's henchmen in 1991, after the failed Shi'ite
uprising following the Gulf War. The son of an
accompanying sheikh was also hanged in 1991, as well as
the brother of a lawyer also in the room. A few minutes
later comes Abbas, who had many family members killed by
Saddam's regime from 1981 to 1991. He is now searching
for five still "disappeared" family members. Iskander
said that "we'll give him any chance available to find
work".
The sheikh is clutching a stack of black
and white copies of a photo of Ahmed Chalabi, the Iraqi
National Congress (INC) leader and self-styled new
regime strongman who stormed into Baghdad on Wednesday.
For Iskander, Chalabi "is known for his history of
working with people against Saddam Hussein. And he has a
very strong character." The sheikh's opinion is tinged
with slightly more subtlety: "As far as I'm concerned, I
don't know anything about Chalabi, but I consider a
suitable person who will govern Iraq must provide
freedom in order to deserve this position." The sheikh's
ideal ruler would be "anyone that is not Saddam
Hussein".
Iskander has his views on what took
place in a faraway neighborhood of Hilla called Nader in
the beginning of April. According to him, "Syrian
Fedayeen came to this place, people tried to kick them
out, and then the Americans bombed it." He said that
there were a maximum of three civilian dead and 20
wounded. This contrasts with figures from the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC),
according to which at least 61 people were killed and
more than 460 seriously injured - mostly by cluster
bombing - in what has become known as the Hilla
massacre.
The new Iskander government is
practically in place: it lists 14 members, including
Sunni, Shi'ites and Kurds. But where will the money come
from? Their only source of finance is "managers of Iraqi
banks", who have already had a meeting with the
Americans. The new government will start collecting
taxes, but not now: "Our intention is to lower taxes,"
Iskander swore. "Our banks were not looted. There are
some thieves who are returning money to mosques." He
said that "for the last 35 years there was no money
here, Saddam took it all. But there are 4 million Iraqis
living outside the country. We are very rich. They
should absolutely come back to rebuild their country."
We are firmly discouraged by the new mayor's top
officials to travel further south to the holy Shi'ite
sites of Najaf and Karbala: "Every foreigner is being
shot on the road and inside the cities. There are
Americans there, but they don't care about the
situation."
On the way back to Baghdad we stop
at the dirt-poor village of Mahmudiya, 30 kilometers
south of the capital, and the site of a ferocious battle
only a few days ago. Amid rows of destroyed and burned
businesses, and charred tanks in alleyways laden with
unexploded bombs, locals remain extremely angry. There's
no water, no electricity - and no police in the streets.
They want answers - and fast. One is almost tempted to
suggest a quick trip to the brave new world of Hilla.
(©2003 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights
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