WAR PROFITS: A UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE "When I saw what was going on after the American buildings were hit by planes, I said to myself, they will blame it on Saddam. Everyone was saying that. I was not the only one. And then the threats from Bush's son, and the UN inspectors. I knew something big was coming again." "This time I knew to prepare. While most people worried about themselves, I worried about how to handle the potential business. I spent most of my savings, my two brothers also, and we invested in wood importation from Malaysia. My sister's husband is a coffin manufacturer. All this could not be done alone. We also bought more space around the area. It was a family effort. And, yes, the bombs came again. I lost family myself - cousins, an uncle. But death is a fact of life, and now, it seems, it is here to stay. The boobie traps and suicide bombers keep our business at peak. Even when the Americans soldiers leave - and they will one day - we will have civil war here. More death. Now, I have six locations and still we cannot keep up." I asked Mr. Jaafari how he holds up, dealing with tragedy literally every day. "It is difficult, and if I sit and think about it too long, it affects me. But I try not to. Sometimes, many young men die at once, trying to be the new police. I tell their family that they died as soldiers. It helps them deal with the tragedy. Sometimes, when a whole family is destroyed, I say to myself, ‘Well, that's better than leaving orphans. This way, there is no one to suffer the loss of parents or children.' It is sad, but what I do, what my family does in this business, we comfort. Your term is ‘counselor'. After all these years, we know what to say to people. In the end, Allah will prevail. Our people know this in their hearts, and they are able to accept the end of this life. Allah is great, and we are nothing but his workers." And there you have it. Muwafaq Jaafari and his family represent one of the many success stories in post-9/11 Iraq, albeit a success story with a dark dimension. In a world very different from our own in the U.S., some Iraqis nevertheless remain resilient and adaptive. By C.J. the Writer (The above is a fictitious article, meant only to lament war). December 12, 2005 1:24 AM Eastern read articles | submit an article for review
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It's another scorcher, but it's no day at the beach. Why? Because we are on the skirts of Baghdad, Iraq, where war has ravaged the landscape for nearly a decade-and-a-half. It began in 1991, with a spectacular string of overnight bombings in what Americans call The Gulf War. Most recently, in March of 2003, the shock and awe was recommenced, and this city was devastated once again. Now, the daily reality of checkpoints shootings, suicide attacks and roadside bombs terrorize the people here. So, who is happy with the present conditions?