Good Morning, Baghdad

February 18, 2003

(:A A (A prince on a white horse)

We have come a long way, from Narita. We have not been sleeping well, plus the fatigue of traveling, have taken its toll...We are exhausted, but still have some energy in the morning. An itinerary we have received in Tokyo stated that we were supposed to have free time today and tomorrow, but it seems that the group that is hosting us have schedule planned for us. They have chartered buses so we, among 100 non-Iraqis visiting Baghdad, were taken to the University of Baghdad, today's first destination.

Many students studying science and technology were waiting for us at the campus, and began talking to us individually. The university, carrying the name of the nation's capital, is apparently the nation's most prestigious university. All the students were very earnest, so we ended up talking earnestly as well.

We could only talk about general subjects--about their family, where they travel--because we have little professional knowledge of what the students are studying at the university.

(:attractive female students)

We encountered two female students, sitting on a bench. Their major was chemistry, studying at graduate school. One of them told us she had already married, with 2 children. The other said she would like to have five or six children altogether. It seems that of those Iraqi students, majority have 5 or 6 siblings. The first student told us that she was content with two children. We thought that the notion of raising fewer child showed modern way of thinking (in a sense) is spreading among intellectuals in Iraq.

We could not help asking them about how they think about their nation's national security issue. The female students told us they were hoping for the avertion of military conflict. We have asked further, not their well wishing but how they are looking at the current situation. They said with smile that Americans and British would not strike, maybe the final dicision to strike Iraq has been delayed.

Iraqi staffers urged us to go back to buses, and all of us reluctant to leave the university. We came to a common understanding that Iraqi students are positive and have firm grip of themselves. To tell the truth, none of us had any sympathy or special feeling towards Iraq before coming here, but after this brief encounter, sudden warm feeling toward Iraq formed inside all of us.

Of course, this warm feeling is easily toppled under different circumstances. We returned to the hotel from the university to take lunch. A hotel staffer refused to give a room key to Brigadier Number 2, saying that the key would only be provided if he had paid a telephone bill. We made some telephone calls this morning from his room, to our Headquarters and so on, and the staffer wants the telephone bill paid now.

However, we found that they have charged us with a call that was incomplete because of the hotel operator's mistake. We demanded to write off that charge from the bill. However, the staffer insisted us to pay because the call had been connected as far as Japan, and they needed to charge us. It was a 3 U.S. dollar bill, but we firmly believed that we had absolutely no reason to pay for an incomplete call. However, the staffer gave the pressure that he would never give us the key unless we pay the bill.

We finally decided to give in and paid the 3 dollar. "What a bureaucracy!" Brigadier Number 2 exclaimed. In any country, some people could make us feel overwhelming with sympathy, others could make us extremely unpleasant.

It is same everywhere, even in Iraq, on its eve of a possible war. We thought the 3 dollar tuition fee was reasonable.

( Internet cafe at the hotel)

By the way, we are basically having all of our meals at the hotel. Maybe because we are invited under the name of President Saddam Hussein, we have never found any signs of food shortage so far. We cannot say that Iraq is a rich nation, but there has been no inconvenience so far.

We enjoy hot water in our bathrooms round the clock, and there has been no power failure so far. Of course we won't jump to conclusion to take this as Iraq's reality. However, as we watch vehicles and people fill the busy Baghdad streets, Iraqi people's suffering, as the western press emphasize, may not be that serious.

Arabs seem to take lunch at relatively late hours, we returned to the hotel at 2 p.m. We left the hotel for Iraq Museum. Hatra, a ruin of a fortified city under the influence of the Parthian Empire and capital of the first Arab Kingdom, a World Heritage, is in Iraq. Nevertheless, Iraq is home to the Mesopotamia, one of the four places where civilization is supposed to have been born. If you are an archeological enthusiast, some of the objects displayed at the museum must be extremely interesting.

Oops, we thought we are exhausted, but went on writing too long. We have to go on with our report, there is going to be another long long day, prepared by our Iraqi friends waiting ahead of us.

After we left the Iraqi Museum, we went to Saddam Hussein Museum. As you may have guessed, most of the works displayed there was "Eternity to Hussein!" types of art. The one overwhelming piece was a huge painting on a vast wall, with Saddam on horseback. Mounted Saddam is leading a crowd of people, each bearing a flag. The problem is that on the flag, it showed that all of the Arab was shown as Iraqi territory. Saddam, I knew that had always been your ultimate dream....

(caption:Men in Iraq)