Mixed Opinions on Postwar Life in Iraq

B A G H D A D, Iraq, Nov. 5, 2004 -- It's a horrible shock, waking up to the sound of a large explosion. Your heart pounds, your mouth runs dry as you try to assess where the bomb came from.

There are too many people in and around Baghdad who experience this all too often.

But what might surprise you is that in between all the dramatic news events of bombings and killings in this city, many people are happier now in their daily lives. Ayad Abdul Kareem wears a smile that leaves you smiling, too.

This soft-spoken, slender engineer moonlights in a blacksmith shop for part of the week. It's a booming business located in the heart of the capital. You can hear the rhythmic pounding of hammers to metal and sparks fly as men solder metal strips for people's gates and windows.

Kareem works the rest of the time at a power substation, monitoring and coaxing 40-year-old equipment to send power out to various Baghdad neighborhoods.

As we stood on the street corner, we asked him if life was better since the war.

"Now it's very good! We have a better life because I have much money and I have anything I want," he said.

Kareem has bought a new air conditioner and a new television for his family, now that his wages are 10 times his prewar salary — a whopping $200 a month. He proudly showed us his son, playing on their computer at home.

And he is one of the lucky ones. Some 70 percent of Iraqis are unemployed and desperate for work.

Many men with degrees in science, math and engineering sit on street corners waiting to be hired for manual labor jobs. They'll do anything: sweep streets, paint buildings — any kind of work to put food on the table for their families.

Fear Overshadows Some Optimism

And then there are the bombs and mortar attacks.

A few days after the Oct. 27 bombing of the Red Cross headquarters in Baghdad, Kareem took us to visit the power plant where he works. He was still smiling — but along with that smile was a look of concern.

"Security is the biggest problem in Iraq," he said. "Why did this happen now? We want to live in peace."

Kareem is caught in the middle here. There are many men, like him, with families who want to reap the rewards that the post-Saddam era promises for them: more money and the chance to have some stability in their lives.

But as Kareem points to the high wall around the power plant and mentions the possibility of a mortar attack, fear overshadows his previous optimism.

He must live with the constant threat from those who want the coalition forces out of Iraq and those who are not interested in the coalition's plans for Iraq's future.

No one wants to be seen cooperating with the Americans.

Fallujah: Worlds Apart

And no where was that feeling more obvious than in the town of Fallujah. It's just outside Baghdad, but it feels worlds apart. This town is positioned inside the infamous "Sunni Triangle," the hotbed of resistance against the coalition in Iraq. Attacks on Americans are almost a daily occurrence here.

As we drove into town, the streets look like any other bustling downtown. People are eating in the cafés and there are lots of cars on the road.

But with a closer look, I noticed the graffiti on many of the walls. Our translator read out loud: "Death for America!" and "Yes for Saddam! Beware of traitors!"

Every man, young and old — in the fruit and vegetable market, on the streets, in their homes — all of them said the same thing: "We don't want the Americans here. They don't respect us. They treat us very badly. They don't understand our culture."

Abdullah Saud, a farmer with deep creases in his face, sifted white prayer beads through his fingers as he told us the attacks on Americans will continue until they leave. He was particularly outraged when a female U.S. soldier subdued an Iraqi man, putting her foot on his head.

"If today there isn't an accident, tomorrow there will be one," Saud said with a quick smile slipping out from under his gray moustache. "At first we thought Bush may know things about Saddam which we didn't know. But when he entered Iraq, Bush turned out to be a liar."

‘Any Time You Could Get Killed’

Instead of feeling empowered by the U.S. coalition's presence in Fallujah, many men are feeling just the opposite: humiliated and frustrated.

"You can't do your job here," one resident named Faisal told us. He invited into his house, in what seemed like a quiet, well-established neighborhood. "Especially, in Fallujah, you know, any time you could get killed," he said. "There's no security at all."

Those men who had jobs under Saddam's regime are now without work — but unlike Kareem, thet feel no sense of optimism.

We heard only the desire for revenge.

So, when I am asked how Iraqis feel about the situation, I never give a quick response. The answer is as complex and varied as the people I have met here in and around Baghdad.

If you stand in one place long enough and talk to people, you will hear both positive and negative reactions to Iraqi's current state of affairs. Despite a difference of opinion, each person whom we spoke to agreed, the freedom to speak openly is one thing they all share these days.