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Gunfire, the Madman and an Elusive Pizza
An Online Report from Peter Breslow in Baghdad
This essay was filed for npr.org by Weekend Edition Saturday Senior Producer Peter Breslow, who is with the show's host, Scott Simon, reporting from Iraq.
May 1, 2003 -- Getting from point A to nearby point B in this city can be a circuitous
descent into mayhem. Many roads have been barricaded by residents trying to
keep out looters. Our driver, Ahmed, tries one street, finds a heap of
metal and bricks barring his way and then tries another. Ahmed, by the way,
has a huge heart. This morning we went to a facility for street kids and Ahmed
was so moved he took off his shoes and gave them to one of the teenagers
there. He drove home in his bare feet.
Clogging the shoulders of the main roads are little kids selling smudgy
photocopies of the U.S. Most Wanted Iraqis List and young men with handheld
satellite phones offering calls for $3 a minute. The gunfire we hear is
mostly harmless shooting in the air, but sometimes not. A number of people
have been killed when those spent rounds fall to earth and encounter a
skull. And a few days ago four U.S. soldiers, their vehicle stuck in
downtown traffic, were shot when a man ran up with a handgun.
The other day we stumbled into a room full of Baath Party documents.
Amongst the piles of papers and files heaped two feet deep on the floor were
the mundane and the sinister: shipping orders for dry goods sitting atop
certificates from Saddam Hussein to be issued to those who pledge to wage
holy war against the Zionist entity, i.e. Israel.
The papers reveal the depths of paranoia Saddam instilled and how it shaped
everyday life. A graduate student writes a letter informing on a classmate
who stated that Chemical Ali, the man behind the chemical attack that killed
thousands in Halabja in 1980, should be killed. The informer didn't sign her
letter, meaning that there would be no reward or recognition for her. So why
did she betray her friend? I doubt the other student ever got her graduate
degree.
In another memo a teacher is denounced for telling his students he had a
dream that Saddam had fallen from power. Others discuss the "deviant
behavior" of individuals. We spent hours poring over these volumes in our
hotel room, renamed The Secret Document Encryption Center, with our
translator, Thair. He dutifully went through each onionskin sheet and hand-scribbled note, occasionally announcing, "You may want this" or "Is this interesting for you?" We found no references to chemical agents or weapons
of mass destruction, but we came away from the session with a chilling sense
of what life was like here before and an understanding of why some people
are still reluctant to speak openly with us.
One person who did open up to us was the front desk guy at our hotel. He was
a prisoner of war for 11 years in Iran, but he says that experience and the
recent bombing of Baghdad were nothing compared to life under Saddam.
Another conversation was with a playwright whose work, "My Country Drives Me
Crazy," will debut soon as the first production in post-Saddam Baghdad. It's
a one-person show about a madman and this guy should know. He spent 17
years in and out of psychiatric hospitals courtesy of the regime. His
illness: he was crazy enough to criticize Saddam. During those years, he
says, his toenails were pulled out, his teeth were smashed, his head was
zapped with electrodes and he was hung by his arms until his shoulders
dislocated. Today he dresses in a suit and tie, chain smokes cigarettes and
has a 5-month-old son.
Did I mention how Scott dresses? Currently he is sporting khaki toreador
pants. Although he claims they are British Army issue, really, he looks like
a cross between a very tall Gurkha and a disoriented matador. Nonetheless,
they are a winner on the streets of Baghdad along with his McLaren Plaid
trout fishing shoulder bag. I expect to catch a glimpse of him some morning
through the mist on the banks of the Tigris casting for his breakfast.
And who would have thought? The most popular songs among restaurant
musicians in Iraq are, "Besame Mucho" and "My Way" (also a favorite of
Saddam, we're told). Scott, of course, sings along at the table.
For almost a week now the owner of the restaurant around the corner has been
promising pizza to supplement the ubiquitous Chicken Tikka on every menu in
Baghdad. Tonight, once again, we'll return to his place with hope in our
hearts, but grateful, really, for anything he can prepare for us.
In Depth
 April 29, 2003: NPR's Scott Simon reports on Baath Party documents that reveal how Saddam Hussein maintained a grip on power.
April 24, 2003: NPR's Peter Breslow presents an essay on chaos and hope in postwar Iraq.
Hear NPR reports by Scott Simon.
Read more essays from NPR correspondents on the Iraq war and its aftermath.
Review NPR News coverage of the war in Iraq.
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