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Subscribe to RSSEditor's note: Photojournalist Kael Alford spent 10 months covering the invasion of Iraq and its immediate aftermath in 2003-2004. She returned this summer to report this Photoblog series. (This post includes a graphic image)
By Kael Alford
The question Americans ask me most often about Iraq is how have the lives of Iraqis changed due to the war? Have we helped them? Are they enjoying more freedom of expression, more security, more prosperity and a brighter future thanks to the U.S. intervention?
Those are tough questions that defy “yes” or “no” answers. But over the next seven days, I will offer some insight into the status of Iraq and its people through a series of vignettes, profiles and photos that I reported in June and July of this year.
Kael Alford / Panos Pictures
Smoke from burning oil drifts over the Euphrates River as seen from the Highway to Falluja. Shortly after the U.S. invasion, oil pipelines and infrastructure became targets of sabotage by Iraqi insurgents.
There are many ways to quantify the price the U.S. paid for the invasion and occupation of Iraq:
• Nearly 4,500 Americans killed and scores of thousands of veterans’ lives forever transformed by lost limbs, traumatic brain injuries and life-changing psychological impacts.
• The financial costs: more than $800 billion and counting for the U.S. war itself, and a huge burden on the veterans’ health-care system for many years to come.
But those calculations only begin to tell the story, and they don’t take into consideration the flip side of the equation: What about Iraqis?
A conservative estimate is that 100,000 Iraqis have been killed as a result of violence since the invasion and some informed estimates put those numbers much higher. The civil war that followed the invasion has abated though lower levels of sectarian and politically motivated violence continue.
Since the American deposition of Saddam Hussein indicators of Iraqi well-being show some improvements but paint a mixed picture. The future of democracy in Iraq is tenuous and much depends on what happens next. I reported in Iraq this summer seeking a more nuanced perspective from Iraqis themselves.
Courtesy of Ghaith Abdul-Ahad
Photojournalist Kael Alford in Najaf, Iraq, August 2003, during battles between U.S. forces and the Jaish Al-Mehdi.
When I left Iraq in 2004, foreign journalists and aid workers were being targeted by groups ranging from nationalist militias to home grown groups affiliated with al-Qaida.
The violence later expanded to include Iraqi journalists, politicians, doctors, college professors and professors and everyday citizens, who were subjected to kidnappings, sectarian murders and massive bombings.
When I returned this summer, the violence had diminished but was once again climbing. On the morning of my arrival in Baghdad, a loud explosion shook me awake. At first I thought it was a nightmare, but a characteristic second explosion a few minutes later confirmed I wasn’t dreaming. The target was a Turkish restaurant across the street from the compound where I was staying. No motive was known, and luckily no one was injured at that early hour. A week later, even the shattered glass of the nearby windows had been replaced and life returned to normal.
There were other incidents during my stay, including the murder of an American professor who was contracted by USAID to cultivate entrepreneurial education at Baghdad University. He was killed when his convoy was struck by a car bomb. And the violence has increased steadily since I left Iraq in July.
Sami, a veteran of the Iran-Iraq war who drove me while I reported, never left his car unattended for fear that an infamous “sticky” bomb might be placed under the carriage. I limited my time in each location and didn’t return to the same place often or follow any discernable routines. Taking photos on the street usually brought the attention of Iraqi police, who -- anxious about any form of surveillance -- detained me and pored over my documents.
I rarely walked outdoors in public except in areas we knew well, and could count the number of western journalists in Baghdad on two hands. Other than journalists and one freelance human rights observer I knew, no foreign diplomats or aid workers ventured outdoors without heavily armed escorts. A young American embassy worker I met in the “Green Zone” -- the heavily fortified village of bureaucrats and politicians where the remaining American officials reside and the Iraqi government does its business -- called all of Iraq outside the fortified compound the “Red Zone.” I never ran into trouble, but each journey felt like a safari into unknown territory because security in Iraq is always in flux. You’re safe, until you’re not.
But in the midst of this troubled landscape, I also was met with kindness and hospitality.
I can’t count the number of times Iraqis welcomed me into their homes, offices, conferences, shops and restaurants and told me their stories. With only a few exceptions, people were eager to share their experiences with an American journalist and to host a foreign guest. These visits always happened behind closed doors, away from the watchful eyes of the street.
Kael Alford / Panos Pictures
Pilgrims pass through Firdos Square, Baghdad, June 2011, as viewed from the Palestine Hotel. Firdos Square was where U.S. Marines famously toppled a statue of Saddam Hussein with the help of a tank on the day they arrived in central Baghdad on April 9, 2003. The Palestine hotel stands behind blast walls. The hotel housed foreign journalists during the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The hotel became a target for terrorist attacks in the years during the U.S. occupation when foreign journalists and contractors stayed at the hotel which was struck by a massive bombing in 2007. The hotel has recently been renovated in the summer of 2011 and is now open for business.
One family I most wanted to find again, I had never spoken to. All I had was a photograph I’d made in March 2003, in the neighborhood of Shoala on the outskirts of Baghdad, during the initial American air campaign. In the picture, three men cried over the body of an 8-year-old girl lying on a slab of marble in the back room of a mosque. She had been killed when an explosion ripped through a market where she was shopping with her family –apparently caused by an American missile gone awry.
I returned to the Shoala market on the last day of my trip and showed the photograph to the first person we saw, who happened to be the doctor who pronounced the girl dead. Hours later I was sitting in the living room of those men in my picture. We looked at each other as if we all might be ghosts. They begged me for copies all the images I had of that day. They wanted to know, did I have any photographs of their mother? She was also killed in the attack, along with a sister-in-law.
Kael Alford / Panos Pictures
Ahmer, Ali and Mohammed Al-Mousewi with the body of their 8-year-old sister Zahra who was killed in a missile strike on an outdoor market in Shoala, Iraq, March 28, 2003. The brothers' mother and sister-in-law were also killed. The attack left more than 50 people dead, according to Iraqi officials. Journalists for the Independent Newspaper in the U.K. have uncovered strong evidence that suggests the bombing was a U.S. missile gone astray during the U.S. air campaign that preceded the American invasion of Iraq.
They brought a 9-year-old into the room, their niece who had survived the blast as an infant, sheltered by the body of her dead mother. The girl’s ice blue eyes tore the fabric of time, her young body counting the years that had passed since that day.
One brother asked if I could help find a doctor who might treat his daughter with a speech defect caused by a palate malformation that no doctors in Iraq could repair. “She is a girl, and in Iraq girls with defects do not find husbands,” he said. Before I left their house, the men asked Sami if he’d make a photograph of me and the family together, in a gesture that said our lives, however distant, are connected.
In the week ahead I will share other scenes like this, drawn from a tenuous, hospitable and resilient country. As the last American troops leave Iraqi soil, the future of our relationship with Iraq begins a new chapter.
Editor's note: This project was supported by a Knight Luce Fellowship for Reporting on Global Religion.
More from the series:
Introduction: As U.S. withdraws, the people speak
For 'the Sheik,' U.S. pullout is cause for alarm
Patchwork electrical grid a symbol of country's disconnects
A new day for culture and consumer goods
For women, freedoms under fire
Suspicious minds in a squatters' camp
Colonel helped with the ‘Surge,’ then his past came calling
Related stories:
Koppel: Is the U.S. really leaving Iraq?
Engel: A look at the US bases, Iraqi troops and other legacies of the US presence
Leave a Comment:
You are all forgetting that Saddam kept Iran under control too---thats why George Bush Senior didn't go into Iraq at the end of the Gulf War-------his dummy son was influenced by Chaney & Co.-------------a real stupid decision to invade Iraq---every one has short memories and doesn't want to lay the blame for the horrendous deficit!!
When did the United States ever care about brutal dictators? Anyway, that was our fall back excuse for invading Iraq. The original excuse was that we were to find the non-existent weapons of mass destruction which, incidentally, is being revived as an excuse for us now to attack Iran. The Pentagon has to create enemies in order to maintain their empire and provide a fast track for the officers to be promoted. I know the drill as I worked there for over twenty years.
We like brutal dictators if they are our puppets. We have raised and protected many of them, especially in Latin American, over the past one hundred years. We invaded Iraq to gain control of the oil resources and to provide lucrative profits for our corporate empire. Most people don't realize that war is a racket and a huge money making opportunity for the ruling class.
President Eisenhower made a departing statement that everyone has conveniently ignored, he said "Beware of the Military Industrial Complex"-----------he was not only a 5 Star General but he was a Republican President---------but we never mention his warning!!!!----------the 'Tea Party' would be well advised to remember his words!!
based upon what little I've read, heard, understand about the price of that "war" it wasn't worth it. For them, for us. "W" wanted a photo op like his father had; my opinion of course - but he'll be forever the reason we went there and it cost us and them (the Iraqi people) dearly.
Oh good, a bunch of people to scared to go and see for themselves are chiming in. That reminds me, Disneyworld is a hateful place full of wasted money that gives children the wrong impressions of a wholesome existence. I can say this with confidence as I have never been there.
Who cares! We have wasted enough time, treasure, and American lives on this third world cesspool. If it wasn't for the oil and the jews we wouldn't care less.
the loss of 1 american was not worth what we did. These tribal scum will be killing
each other but in a more friendly way.
ohh we better off we get to enjoy more of McDonalds, more can food and the best,,, more US gay and lesbian tv shows..... i think they would be the best privilege after so much horror and terror
I was fighting in the first gulf war before my son was born. He's 19 now and wants to join the military. Hard to believe after all this time there is still a chance he could get killed in Iraq. I think we've spilled enough blood in that God forsaken land, get out. We lost the war any way you look at it.
Everyone lost that one. both sides! but we still have a Country left.
WHERE HAS OUR HUMANITY AS HUMANS LEAD US? Regardless of who we are or where we come from. Before you mock another, first look at yourself. Look at our leaders for mass destruction on here say! How dare us, and shame on us. We shun to help our neighbors, to look out for each other, to live an honest life and be truthful to ourselves. SHAME ON US!!! i AM A RETIRED DISABLED VET- I have been to many of these countries. Years ago I could walk into any local yard for a social gathering and share my stories growing up in America. And absolutely listen and laugh listening to they're stories. Today- its not possible. Those same people remember me, but now have a hateful side. It's never to late start over, or, say your sorry for something you had no control over. Think about this for a brief moment instead of your i-phone or x-box, or the luxury of driving to the store for a gallon of milk to take home to the kids. That's all I'm going to say.
This is so sad. I was in the Viet Nam war. We left them helpless as well. Now, the Iraq people will find themselves helpless. We have fought another war that made no sense. We have had our own men and women die on the battle field for no good reason. Sure, the politicans will say we fought terrorism on thier soil not ours.. There's no telling how much equipment, materials, technology, and buildings we paid for are left behind. This country is headed for some real troulble financially, economically, spiritually, and militarily. We have streched ourselves so thin we are about to split wide open. Again, this is so sad...
Good thing we went over to their country and started killing everyone for a decade, I'm sure they are all better off for being murdered on a daily basis, I love how American's over there actually have to ask the people they are killing if they are better off for being killed or worse off, ha ha.
If it wasn't actually happening it would really be funny.
The biggest joke of all: Conservatives / Republicans in America accusing Obama of being a bad guy for wanting to end all the murder and get us out of there.
Not killing innocent women and children is so UN-American...
Yeah, gotta love the press, huh? "Your family just got brutally murdered, how does that make you feel?" Brilliant. The army should have killed the press instead we'd be better off.
SO FUNNY! Fidos is a circle or oval and they call it a square! OH, and now the Iraqis forever have an excuse for whatever goes wrong in their country from now on: The US Gubmin warring on them for 10 years. Thanks, US gubmint evil monster you have become, SHAME ON YOU. I believe Obama wanted to do good but you shut him down in your evil way.
DECLARATION of IND: But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. GUNS UP, people!
Just wait until the Iraqi military starts attacking the terrorists with their newly purchased tanks, planes and drones.
the bush-cheney-rumsfield fiasco that our grandchildren will continue paying for.
All I can say is Bush and Cheney better hope there is no such thing as heaven or hell. Because it's going to hurt where they end up.
And now America is cooking war on Iran, like WMD on Iraq (Iran is creating nukes)and spreading it to the world(through CNN), that way they can have the reason(again like Iraq) to invade Iran. And now the latest, the missing drone story, and it ends up in Iran of course, another reason to invade Iran because they have the drone. Missing drone my a$$, it was planted!!!!
WTF? Anyone else notice that the comments prior to #47 are missing? I posted earlier and now it is gone.
Moderator: I would assume someone is monitoring these discussions. Where are comments 1-46?
Leaving Iraq? Does this mean that Bush Jr. and Cheney finally found Bin-Laden? Can't wait till Bush Jr. puts that old fighter plane suit on. Getting on that aircraft carrier, saying "Mission Accomplished."
It's kind of silly to ask the Iraq people if they are better off now. Only future history will tell them and us that answer. We are known from our history in the middle east. The one's we sell arms, we usually at war within afew years with them. I noticed we are selling groups of arms to Iraq lately, before we know if they are for or against Iran. Only comment I can give to the good people of Iraq, is to keep your hard hats on. Wait till history will tell you things are okay in your life. I truly wish you peace in your country.
the last troops being pulled out is a lie. according to the DW, the german news channel. their reporter in bagdad said between 4 and 5 thousand us troops are staying in iraq as advisors. this means that our troops are going to keep dying over there. obama is a liar and has never told us the truth about anything. he said in his campaign to get elected president the first thing he would do is bring all our troops home. why did it take him until the next election to do it? answer a re-election ploy. american troops have died for three years just so he could a re-election ploy to brag about. if you people cannot see through this egotistical maniacs thirst for power i feel sorry for you. he doesn't give a rats ass about us or america. all he wants is the glory and the power to rule peoples lives.
Sad but true. That is not our concern! That has to be delt with in Iraq by those Muslim sand diggers. It is their country and their people and their idiotic way of life. Not for us to change it!!!
Truth is that many Native Americans died of 'white man's' diseases but not because American pioneers intentionally infected them.