Ringing in the New Year: A Forced Election, a Potential Iran-Style Iraq, and a mass Shia Protest
- sarahpinkerton1
- Feb 22, 2022
- 6 min read
Sunday, January 2nd, 2005:
As the new year begins, Riverbend celebrates by watching the cheers of people all around the world, far from the realities of life in Baghdad.
Elections are approaching but many Sunni Arabs plan on boycotting them as it feels unethical to hold elections while the nation is occupied. Voters aren’t told the names of the candidates due to fear of them being assassinated so Riverbend feels as if they are simply blind voting. Many people don’t plan on voting and are selling their voting cards for up to $400 to people coming in from Iran. They will then illegally vote for the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. Americans, on the other hand, believe that the election will bring about a more secular government.
Saturday, January 15th, 2005:
Her phone hasn’t been working for almost a week. Electricity has continued to be shotty. Riverbend gets, typically, two hours of electricity a day followed by eight hours of nothing. Almost everyone wants to leave Iraq before election time.
News is released from the White House that the American search for Weapons of Mass Destruction has ended. Riverbend, and most Iraqis, still believe the American reason for entering war as a "search for WMD" was a front for a deeper issue.
"The weapons never existed. It's like having a loved one sentenced to death for a crime they didn't commit."
Saturday, January 25th, 2005:
It is now the third day of Eid, one of Islam's biggest holidays. While it usually a time for family celebration, eating, and drinking, Riverbend says that not many are up to that this year.
Water hasn't been coming through faucets for six days. River and her family have been purchasing expensive bottles of water for drinking and cooking. Cleaning, a typical tradition of Eid, is not even possible at this point. This is the reality for most areas around her neighborhood.
In addition to this, elections are quickly coming up. People are being threatened by authorities who say if they don't vote, their supply rations will continue to be cut off.
"What sort of democracy is it when you FORCE people to go vote for someone or another they don't want?"
Roads into Baghdad are now being restricted by American checkpoints and the Jordanian and Syrian borders have been closed.
"'Ili yishoof il mawt, yirdha bil iskhooneh,' which means, 'If you see death, you settle for a fever.' We've given up on democracy, security and even electricity. Just bring back the water."
Thursday, January 27th, 2005:
A small stream of water has returned to the bathroom faucet. While it still a small drip, she states that it is better than nothing. She and her family spent the day then filling up most things in the house to store water away for future water shortages.
On the other hand, electricity has gotten worse, now with only four hours of every 24 hours being available. She states that it feels as though she's being cut off from speaking to people in neighboring areas.
As elections begin, schools are pinned as election sites which, Riverbend says, puts those buildings in heavy danger. While the kids are out of school, the sites are still likely to be bombed, destroying the places of education. In addition, nighttime curfew is now 6 p.m. and driving is only allowed at certain points of the day.
"Almost everyone is trapped at home because the security situation is quite bad and no one wants to be caught in an area where an explosion might occur. If the bomb doesn't kill you, the Iraqi security forces or the Americans might."
Saturday, February 12th, 2005:
The elections have now come and gone with "eerie silence" Riverbend says. While the government is pinging the election as a Sunni vs. Shia election, most Iraqis simply want a leader who will end the occupation. However, she believes the results of the election won't matter much as most people boycotted their votes.
"There are millions of Iraqis who will refuse to submit to an occupation government."
Additionally, politicians want to form a Shia-Kurdish alliance, which would be a secular and extremist alliance. However, Riverbend believes that due to the Kurdish desire to simply remain autonomous in the North within their ethnic group, they don't actually care about the rest of Iraq.
Riverbend also notes the shift in women's freedom and the loss of freedom of defiance and speech. After visiting a government building with her cousin, she is reprimanded for wearing pants and not wearing a head covering, as a woman. When she fought back on this ideology, she was only further reprimanded.
"Now, you could only answer back and make it an issue if you have some sort of death wish or just really, really like trouble."
Friday, February 18th, 2005:
Riverbend goes to visit her favorite local street market vendor, Abu Ammar, for vegetables. She says that her home and almost every home on her street buy their produce from him. She says that from what types of produce he has available, you can tell how well or poorly things are going in the country.
When they asked him about the election results, he said that most Shia voted for "list 169": one of the unnamed candidates. He says that this candidate may turn Iraq into Iran.
"'And is Iran so bad?' he finally asked. Well no, Abu Ammar, I wanted to answer, it's not bad for *you* -- you're a man."
The new fear of an Iranian-modeled Iraq, one of religious extremism, creeps in.
Riverbend says that most politicians have been trying to put on an agreeable front for the West. Ibrahim Al-Jafaari, head of the Da'awa party gave an interview in which he pretended that he had an open-minded policy. The reality is that the Da'awa party has been responsible for explosions and assassinations throughout the past few decades and calls for an Iraq that is modeled after Iran.
Additionally, Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim, head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) gave Iran 100 billion dollars and tried to erase personal status laws.
These parties want women to cover up and segregate themselves from men, and use violence, insults and threats to achieve that.
"It's not about covering the hair. I have many relatives and friends who wore a hijab before the war. It's the principle. It's having so little freedom that even your wardrobe is dictated."
Assassinations of Sunnis have now been occurring as a celebration of the Shia election results.
"There was hope of a secular Iraq, even after the occupation. That hope is fading fast."
Tuesday, March 8th, 2005:
An Italian journalist was recently released after being abducted by the Iraqi government. Growing fears of foreigners has crept in and Riverbend feels that it is actually the American troops that strike most of this fear. Americans are shocked when foreigners are abducted in Iraq, but are not shocked when Iraqis are abducted, killed, and imprisoned almost every single day.
Doctors have also now gone on strike after an explosion put around 30 members of the National Guard in need of medical attention. At Yarmuk Hospital, there weren't enough beds to treat all those wounded alongside current patients. The National Guard proceeded to pull existing patients out of beds to put wounded servicemen in their place. A fight, obviously, broke out, and members of the National Guard began beating the doctors.
Jaffari of the Da'awa Party is now Prime Minister and Talbani is President. Meant to appease the Sunnis, Riverbend says this plan won't work as, again, people just want to end the occupation.
"Millions of Iraqis feel completely detached from the current people in power."
Wednesday, March 23rd, 2005:
Two years have now officially passed since the beginning of the war. To Riverbend, this has felt like two decades. As she reflects on the early explosions, she remembers hearing the fear in her mother's voice, the hurrying into the underground bomb shelter, the tears in her family member's eyes and the red and white lights brightening up the dark sky.
"What followed was almost a month of heavy bombing. That chaotic night became the intro to endless chaotic days and long, sleepless nights. You get to a point during extended air raids where you lose track of the days. You lose track of time. The week stops being Friday, Saturday, Sunday, etc. The days stop being about hours. You begin to measure time with the number of bombs that fell, the number of minutes the terror lasted and the number of times you wake up in the middle of the night to the sounds of gunfire and explosions."
Sunday, April 3rd, 2005:
Riverbend says that while there is a war with missiles and bombs, there is also a different type of attack happening: the prevalence of American media. Satellite access has brought an influx of American music and movies. Al-Hurra is a channel that shows translated documentaries of American history, celebrities and vacations. Additionally, MBC, financed by Saudi Arabia, lines up 5 consecutive American news shows each day.
"The news is so... clean. It's like hospital food. It's all organized and disinfected...And the anchor person manages to look properly concerned and completely uncaring all at once."
Saturday, April 9th, 2005:
Thousands of people took to the streets of Baghdad this day to protest. While some Sunnis were involved, most were Shiite followers of Al-Sadr. Shias have been angry since the election of Talbani as President.
"There were hundreds of thousands of Shia screaming, 'No to America. No to terrorism. No to the occupation. No to the devil. No to Israel.' The numbers were amazing and a little bit frightening too."
In addition to protests, a major dust storm tore through Baghdad. Dust covered furniture and homes and Riverbend had to breathe it in for multiple days.
"The air is clearer now but everything is looking a little bit diminished and dirty. It suits the mood. Two years and this is Occupation Day once more... The chess pieces were moved around and adjusted and every one is getting tired of the game."
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