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The anatomy of a
looting
By Zamira Eshanova
BAGHDAD - The residents of Baghdad's upscale
al-Jadiriya area spent a turbulent night filled with the
sounds of machine-gun fire earlier this week.
Many residents were afraid to venture out that
night, but in the morning the reason for the gunfire was
clear. Hundreds of looters had descended on one of the
most beautiful homes in the district - the house of
Saddam Hussein's sister and her husband, retired General
Arsheed Yasin. Yasin's neighbors had been firing machine
guns all night to keep looters out of their own homes.
News of the looting quickly spread to different
areas of the city, and by 8 am, trucks, wagons, and cars
were rushing to the house to see what else could be
taken.
Inside the mansion - once filled with
antique furniture, carpets and porcelain - dozens of
men, women and children were grasping at everything they
could find. They were pushing each other and trying to
carry impossibly heavy pieces of furniture, chandeliers
and anything else that was not bolted down.
Meanwhile, next-door neighbors like 20-year-old
Ahmad looked on in shock and horror. "These people are
savages. This is something I can't describe. It is a
shame for Iraqis. We don't have Iraqis who do that. I
wasn't brought up to do these things. These are very,
very poor people; they have never seen these things in
their lives," Ahmad said.
But another young man,
a looter who did not give his name, said he did not feel
ashamed of his actions. In fact, quite the opposite - he
said he was only stealing goods that were stolen in the
first place. "No, no, no haram [stealing]. This
is not haram because these [things belong to] the
Iraqi people. This house, there is more, more of these
things. In Iraq we haven't any of these things," he
said.
Some of Yasin's neighbors blame the United
States military, saying they are encouraging this and
other lootings in Baghdad. "I live in this area. These
people were taking care of this home for a long time.
And then the American army hit and broke the door and
they asked 'Ali-baba' to go inside the home. These
[looters] are from another area. I can guarantee that,"
one neighbor said.
He said while the looting was
going on, the neighbors sent several men to a nearby US
military patrol, but the men returned with news that the
Americans were "too busy" to help.
The US
eventually did come, at around 5 pm the next day, but it
was too late. The house had been turned into a garbage
dump, full of broken glass, porcelain, and pieces of
broken furniture. Sergeant Molina, a member of a US Army
patrol unit, denied accusations the US encouraged the
looting. He said the US Army is simply not able to guard
each house and that the Iraqi people should prevent
looting on their own. "The US is working with the Iraqi
people to stop lootings, we work very hard. We work when
Iraqi people come with us; we come over and help them so
they can stop looting in their area," Molina said.
While many of Yasin's neighbors remain
unconvinced by the American explanation, at least some
point to a different culprit. One commentator said he
believes the looting is the result of an overwhelming
hatred for the Saddam regime that has translated into a
mass rampage. "What [do the lootings] say? It says greed
is ever-[present]. It says deprivation and lack of law -
combined with extreme poverty and a loss of moral sense
- is extremely prevalent in our country, not only in our
country, but in the whole world," he said.
At
the end of the day, Molina and his fellow soldiers try
to comfort the residents of the al-Jadiriya area. They
say the lootings in the area have stopped and there is
no reason to be afraid. But the people remain skeptical.
They say that in the coming nights they will be sleeping
with their guns.
Copyright (c) 2002, RFE/RL
Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington DC
20036
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