Following is the slightly edited commentary that I wrote on April 14, 2003 as I waited in Amman, Jordan to return to the States after serving with the Iraq Peace Team during the invasion and occupation of Baghdad.
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My thirty-one days in Baghdad with the Iraq Peace Team (IPT) were both horrific and wonderful. I arrived less than seven days before the bombing began and left the day after BBC TV reported, “Scenes of medics guarding their hospitals with guns may be more etched in memory than scenes of statutes toppling.”
The hospitality of the Iraqi people was overwhelming. Even when people learned that we were from the United States, they treated us with immense affection. When Iraqis learned that we opposed the war, spontaneous expressions of appreciation were common. If the “chicken hawks” had been right about an overwhelming Iraqi desire to be liberated forcibly by America, most of the Iraqis whom we met would have simply kept quiet.
Iraqis were happy when the Saddam regime collapsed. The fear and anger toward Saddam was palpable. Even those with mixed emotions must have felt some satisfaction.
One should not overestimate the joy, however. BBC reported thousands in the streets celebrating, not tens of thousands. And the military brought in a crowd of Shiites, who are vehemently anti-Saddam, to cheer the televised toppling of Saddam’s statute.
A large portion of the positive response to the arrival of American troops was relief that the bombing was over. For three weeks, bombs and missiles that shook the ground for mile around fell on Baghdad relentlessly. It was like living through 20 or 30 San Francisco earthquakes day after day.
As IPT documented in our report, “Civilian Casualties and Infrastructure Damage in the 2003 U.S.-led Attack on Baghdad – March 20-April 1, 2003,” the cost was terrible. When American troops entered Baghdad, the human toll increased. Body parts being blown away by machine-gun fire. Charred bodies lying by the roadside. Tanks trying to kill snipers a mile away, not knowing whom they would hit. Soldiers deciding not to shoot out the tires of approaching cars but killing the occupants inside instead.
Then, as expected, post-invasion, anarchy ensued, adding to the death toll. Not only did the U.S. not bring in a police force to keep order. Not only did the U.S. give the looters a green light by being passive. They actually encouraged the mayhem. On the ground, they blew open banks and buildings and invited in the looters. And at headquarters, they tried to legitimize the banditry by saying that the victims were people who had benefited from the old regime.
No one will ever know how many Iraqis die in this escapade, because the U.S. allowed the burning of key government records, including vital statistics.
One soldier told me that he lost sleep many nights because he knew that he had killed innocent civilians when he made the wrong split-second decision. Another said that he never fired his gun and told others that his gun jammed when asked about it. The damage done to the souls of these kids may persist for the rest of their lives.
The invasion honeymoon was over quickly. Other feelings soon surfaced. One Iraqi, for example, said, “I’m glad that Saddam is gone, but I wish that it had been Iraqis who got rid of him.” Another commented, “I think the U.S. will secure Iraqi resources and leave some other crazy guy in charge.”
As we left Baghdad yesterday, April 13, all the way to the edge of town we saw burned out cars, looted stores, garbage and debris, abandoned tanks, and devastated buildings. Many times, our driver was forced to change his route because the road was blocked by wreckage of one sort or another.
While stuck at the Jordanian border, an AP reporter who left about two hours after we did told us that he was robbed at gunpoint just outside of Baghdad. Once again, I felt lucky. The Iraqi people have not been so fortunate.
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