"Acute
water, gas and fuel shortage together with power outage forced Iraqis to
use traditional things instead of such appliances, however, these much
sought-after basics are of sky-rocketing prices with one lantern hitting
2000-4000 dinars (one dollar equals around 1300 Iraqi dinars) compared
to its original price of 250 dinars," said Ikhlas Mohammad, a
professor of psychology at Baghdad University.
"When
you pronounce words like electricity and water you, no doubt, conjures
up visions of civilization and life…But we are no leading our lives
without water or civilization," Thurayaa Mohidin, a biologist,
echoed the same feelings.
She
continued: "But such appalling conditions is nothing new for
Iraqis, who suffered for 12 years the same hardships under the ousted
Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein…The Americans only added insult to
injury."
"Can
anybody imagine that I daily read theses on the dim light of lanterns in the sweltering heat of the room…Is this the freedom that the
U.S. has promised us it would break the yoke of 35 years of injustice?
Are not these (U.S.) practices brazen violations of the rights of
oppressed and down-trodden people, who were born to find themselves the
people of the world's richest country?" She wondered.
"Majority
of Iraqis have already had their fill of these conditions and I fear
that it the lull before the storm," she said after a breath of
relief.
Diseases
Um
Radi, 39, a housewife and a mother of 7 children said that power outage
and Iraq's stifling heat afflicted her three-year-old daughter with
severe diarrhea, given that she could not bear such temperatures.
"When
I went to the hospital I was shocked by the large number of babies who
suffered typhoid and dermatitis," she said.
As
for Abu Ahmad, an engineering graduate, circumstances beyond his control
forced him to work as a tailor.
"We
used to sleep on the roof to escape heat and enjoy the night's breeze
under the moonlight…But U.S. Apache helicopters pace the night sky at
lower altitudes and have the gall to step their shoes out to our
humiliation," he said.
'Honeymoon
on Roof'
Um
Ahmad said that her nephew spent his honeymoon on his house's roof which
overlooks the Tigris River.
"It
seems as if the Iraqi people were predestined to suffer all along
starting from the U.K. occupation in 1917 till today…The occupation is
aimed at forcing the Iraqis to live under poverty, starvation and
oppression," said Walid Umar, a post-graduate student.
"Can
anyone imagine that the people of a country like Iraq, which abounds in
natural resources such as oil, depleted uranium, phosphor and mercury,
have now to drink from water vats to stay alive? Even the Iraqi sand is
now at great demand at the moment by giant corporations because it is
the raw material of the world's best ceramics," he added.
