Iranian Eyes on Iraq

By Sara Afshari

As many people know, Iran and Iraq were at war throughout most of the 1980s. As an Iranian, I spoke recently with other people from my country to listen to their thoughts about the current war in Iraq.

Hamid begins with one of his stories:

“I was only 10 when the war started. We were in Abadan. I didn't know what a war was look like. I remember my last day at school – that day I escaped from school and went home. It was around 10 in the morning, we saw a few fighter planes flying over the sky of our city. They were very close to the earth. In the centre of the city they separated. One of them came very close to us. I could clearly see things falling down from the plane (later on, I understood they were bombs). As the plane went up, the bombs dropped at a beautiful slanted angle, joining heaven and earth together, and then there was a horrendous sound.

After a few minutes, everyone was screaming and shouting. And I heard: ‘They hit the school, they hit the school!' I said, ‘Thank God, I don't have to go to school tomorrow.' My mother, with tears in her eyes, said: ‘Don't you know what this means? It means all the children in the school died; all your friends.'

“My mother pulled me down. I asked her, ‘What is happening?' She replied, ‘Can't you see? It's war.' The planes had gone. After a few minutes, everyone was screaming and shouting. And I heard: ‘They hit the school, they hit the school!' I said, ‘Thank God, I don't have to go to school tomorrow.' My mother, with tears in her eyes, said: ‘Don't you know what this means? It means all the children in the school died; all your friends.' I couldn't believe that. I asked myself for months and years: How could that happen? Is that what war looks like? Was that beautiful slant line a line of death? Yes, it was. I know my story is not unique, but it is a story of my children especially in Iran and Iraq.

“Neither the Iran and Iraq war nor the America and Iraq war were about good and evil, despite what the U.S. president says. It is about power and control, and also about political and economic benefits. Yet who suffers? Who pays the price? We do: ordinary people. I really don't hate Iraqis; speaking in truth, at first I did, but when America attacked them and start to destroy their countries and even to destroy their heritage, I felt really sorry for them. . .”

Shirin remembers her sad stories too: “The eight years of war destroyed our cities, killed our people, friends and families. They made us homeless. We are still paying the price. Because of the use of chemical gas and other chemical weapons during the war, our soil and water still are poisoned, and even may be the air our people breathe. My little child, who never saw the war, was one of the victims. . .

“Everybody lies to us. In the name of freedom they kill us. In the name of democracy they torture us. I feel sad when I see how Americans – in the name of freedom, democracy and security –destroy Iraq and kill and torture the prisoners and even rape women. In my opinion, Saddam and Bush are the same . . . they have no respect for human life.”

Hamid, who has been silent during the discussion, without breaking his silence hands me a piece of paper. Written on it is: “For an ordinary solder, war is an incidence for survival and destruction; if you want to survive you have to kill and destroy, you have no choice; but for politicians war is an event for enforcing their economic and political aims on people and countries, and they make it happen. No one will fight for Iran or Iraq, no one cares for Iraqis' children and women, nor America neither any other country. It is all about power, control, and achieving their own goals. I hate this play.”  

I look at him. I see untold stories in his eyes. He breaks his silence and says, “I was 20 years old when I went into military service. When I came back, I was 26 years old! Where was I? In prison, in Iraq. . . They bit us three times a day. . . Some died under their inhumane methods of torture, some lost their abilities, and some went mad. I hated them. I promised myself to teach my children to hate them too. . . When I watch the news, and hear about the torture Iraqi prisoners received at the Abu Ghraib Prison by American solders; I asked myself; is that God's punishment? Is God taking revenge? To my amazement, the answer was no, it is not God's punishment. It is human evil. And that should not happen. To be honest, I don't want to see the horrible things that happened to me happen to anyone else. The terrible memories of the Iraq's prisons has been with me all the time. . .”   Hamid lapses into silence again.

Zohreh takes a deep breath and says:

“Iraq attacked Iran with the encouragement of America. America with its power stood behind Iraq in front of all countries and even the United Nations. No one heard the cry of Iranians and Kurds during the war. No one saw the suffering of injuries from chemical warfare. No one wanted to see that Iraq was using chemical weapons against Iran and against its own people.

“What made America attack Iraq and Afghanistan? It was not for bringing freedom and democracy. It was not about people. It was for their own benefits, oil . . . digging into the issues of WMD for us is like giving a person an antidote after his/her death. . . It was too late. . . If the UN from the beginning had stopped Iraq from using these horrible materials, now my son would have been alive. But now it is too late . . . too late for both Iraqis and Iranians.”

What is really the benefit of recording these memories? Iran is not the only nation in the Middle East that has suffered unjustly. The region is full of stories about war and destruction. Yet, we must admit that the war between Iran and Iraq was one of the great human tragedies of recent Middle Eastern history. Almost one million people died – 600,000 Iranians and 400,000 Iraqis – and many more were wounded.

Both regimes, led by Saddam Hussein and Ayatollah Khomeini, disregarded human lives, and the world community was not bothered, but tried to profit from the conflict. The Soviet Union was the largest weapons supplier to Iraq. Many countries sold their weapons to both countries. The USA's aim was not simply the arms trade, but much more significantly, to control the region's oil resources.

The war began on September 22, 1980. Iraq had hoped for a quick and easy victory against an internationally isolated neighbour. On August 20, 1988 the guns finally went silent. The end of the war was the most awful part of it. Both regimes continued to kill their own citizens: Iraq dropped mustard gas and other chemicals on Kurds in Halabjah and killed at least 3,000 Kurds, and Iran killed a lot of its dissidents. But the “war” was over. Both regimes, led by Saddam Hussein and Ayatollah Khomeini, disregarded human lives, and the world community was not bothered, but tried to profit from the conflict. The Soviet Union was the largest weapons supplier to Iraq. Many countries sold their weapons to both countries. The USA's aim was not simply the arms trade, but much more significantly, to control the region's oil resources. This is the same aim that made her attack Iraq twice – in 1991 and 2003 – and Afghanistan too.

The Pretexts for War

George W. Bush, in one of his recent speeches, said: “Because we acted, an example of democracy is rising at the very heart of the Middle East. Because we acted, the world is more free and America is more secure.” (May 6, 2004)

Let's review Bush's excuses for war:

1. Freedom, Democracy and Security:
   1. True, in the Middle East we need more freedom, democracy and security. Yet the question is: Can Western freedom, democracy and security be applied to the Middle East? Also, can the West actually bring us freedom, democracy and security? Of course not. For many reasons, Middle Eastern countries are different from the rest of the world. Their differences are related to their unique history, religions, mentality, and many other things. What can be applied in the West may not be an answer in the Middle East. Moreover, the definitions of freedom, democracy and security are relative.
   2. Understanding the role of religion in the Middle East is critical, since religion often decides what is “good” for people, not the people themselves. It wouldn't matter whether it was an Islamic government or a Christian government, we would get the same result: using religion to oppress people. America knows that too.
   3. The U.S. itself has been the greatest opponent of democracy across the world. In the Middle East, specifically, for decades the U.S. has been supporting dictatorships in Saudi Arabia, Iran (under the Shah and even the current Islamic regime), and Iraq (Saddam Hussein). How can they bring democracy and freedom into our countries?
   4. This issue is much deeper and complicated than can be adequately discussed here. In summary, the aim of the U.S. was not to bring freedom to the people of Iraq, nor to the people of Afghanistan. This is a very naïve excuse by Bush.
2. Disarming Iraq of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD):
   1. This issue brings pain to my heart because of the endless eight-year war between Iran and Iraq. Iran could not convince the world and the UN of Iraq's use of WMD. If, from the beginning, the UN had forced Iraq to stop using its WMD, at least now the 3,000 people of Halabja would have been alive, and many people in Iran and Iraq would not suffer from “horrifying genetic defects, skin lesions, respiratory ailments, aggressive cancers and miscarriages, birth deformities such as cleft palates and harelips, lung disorders, and heart disease.” If the U.S. and UN cared about people's lives, they would have stopped the development of WMD in the first place, not when Saddam didn't have any.
   2. It is also hypocritical for the U.S. to justify going to disarm Iraq for having WMD, when the U.S. itself is the world's largest WMD developer and has used them in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and in Vietnam. Other relevant questions are: Where did Iraq get its weapons of mass destruction capability in the first place? Who is going to disarm America of its WMD?
3. The War on Terrorism: The events of September 11, 2001 have provided a convenient excuse for attacking poor people. What did America achieve from this so-called “war on terrorism”? The additions would seem to be: more deaths on its long list; more hatred and anger; and more enemies.

Where Is the Truth?

In reviewing the reasons for war in Iraq and the outcomes of it, I find the following:

•  The true reasons for war in Iraq were for controlling the oil and geopolitics in the Middle East;

•  The war has given more opportunities for Israel to oppress Palestinians and to use a disproportionate share of resources in the Middle East.

•  A troubling religious dynamic has emerged between Christianity and Islam. Bush's references to “Good and Evil” should not be ignored, especially by Christians. His comments made this look like a war on Islam. It is a serious question whether many Christians believe that he is an instrument of God sent to bring “Good News” to the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. Although I, myself, am a Christian from an overwhelmingly Muslim nation, I hope this was not a goal to be achieved.

Finally, let us “Pray for one another so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective” (James 5:16).

Sara Afshari is a member of the Anglican Diocese of Iran. She studied literature in Kerman, Iran (where she became a Christian) and then theology in Bristol, England. Currently, she is working for SAT-7 (A Christian satellite television channel for the people of the Middle East and North Africa) coordinating Farsi broadcasting (ICB). She may be reached by email at sara_afshari@hotmail.com.