By Hamza Hendawi. The Guardian, 18 June 2005.
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Since the guns fell silent in Sadr City last November, Baghdad's sprawling Shiite district has been the safest place in the Iraqi capital - no car bombings, no suicide attacks, roadside bombs or assassinations.
But security and political empowerment of Sadr City's estimated 2.5 million residents have brought little improvement to life. Lengthy power cuts and open sewage drains remain the norm. Running water is scarce and many streets are strewn with garbage.
In many ways, the district's reality is similar to that of other former Iraqi hotspots where the end of violence has failed to change the quality of life. Pledges of reconstruction funds have failed to materialize, been slow in coming or poorly managed.
In the case of Sadr City, the absence of a peace dividend is boosting the standing of Muqtada al-Sadr, the anti-American cleric whose militiamen are loyal to his Imam al-Mahdi Army and fought U.S. troops last year.
With that, al-Sadr's lieutenants have further tightened their hold on the area through an elaborate network of modest but reliable social and religious services and feeding anti-American sentiments.
"The absence of a genuine Iraqi sovereignty and the rule of law is allowing reconstruction funds to be wasted," said Falah Shanshal, a Sadr City legislator and a supporter of al-Sadr. "I am convinced that the funds have been stolen."
While such claims may be exaggerated, they highlight the notion among many Iraqis that the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime two years ago and the end of more than a decade of sweeping U.N. sanctions have failed to make day-to-day life any better.
In fact, many say, they are worse off now than under Saddam, with a two-year-old insurgency and high rates of crime and unemployment tearing at the very fabric of society.
Before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, residents of Baghdad had about 20 hours of electricity a day. Now, they receive about 10 hours broken into two-hour chunks. There are frequent fuel and drinking water shortages and only 37 percent of the population has a working sewage system.
In Sadr City, residents say outages often last longer than the announced two-hour cuts.
"Things are bad. If they don't change, we will surely die," declared Shamsiyah Mohammed, a 72-year-old widow from Sadr City who shares a tiny two-story house with 13 family members.
"We are a forgotten people," her 28-year-old daughter Najat al-Bahadli said. "We don't feel any change since the fall of Saddam," said al-Bahadli, who shares an upstairs room with her taxi driver husband and two children.
Other adult members of the family waited impatiently for their turn to tell of their daily problems, including higher food prices and declining quality, not to mention the power and water outages.
Even the historic Jan. 30 election, an event that President Bush cites as evidence of America's success in Iraq, was looked back on with regret by some of the al-Bahadlis, who recalled risking their lives by going out to vote despite threats of violence.
"We exposed ourselves to danger during election day, so we could have a better life, but now we feel that things are the same and even getting worse," said Jabar al-Bahadli, Mohammed's son and a father of three. "I feel that death is the best way to be rid of this miserable life."
Such sentiments are in sharp contrast to the jubilation with which Iraq's Shiite majority greeted its political empowerment after the January vote, and until the ouster of Saddam -- whose patronage of the minority Sunni Arabs sanctioned oppression of the Shiites.
Hassan Shamah, head of the Sadr City local council, blamed lack of coordination and what he said was the corruption of Iraqi contractors for the slow reconstruction progress. He, however and contrary to the wider perception, acknowledged that significant improvement has been made in areas where the U.S. military had been involved.
The Sadrists, the name by which al-Sadr's supporters are known, have exploited these perceptions, stepping in to promote themselves as the alternative to a government widely accused of corruption and a U.S. military perceived as indifferent to the suffering of Iraqis.
"When the occupiers came to Iraq, they brought with them their armor and heavy weapons," said Abdul-Zahra al-Suaidi, leader of the Friday prayers in Sadr City, in a recent sermon. "So, how come they did not bring along power generators to replace the ones they destroyed?"
Al-Sadr's office is a magnet for residents seeking financial assistance or counseling on religious and family matters. During one recent day, scores of chador-clad women gathered at the office, a sparsely furnished building with rickety ceiling fans. They were there to collect stipends paid to families of militiamen killed or wounded while fighting the Americans.
Last week the Sadrists, who burst on the political scene soon after Saddam's ouster and now rival established Shiite parties, staged a colorful parade in Sadr City in memory of al-Mahdi militiamen killed in last year's fighting.
In a sign of the vast influence they wield, vehicles belonging to the local Sadr City police took part in the parade with their loudspeakers blaring songs praising al-Sadr. Commanders of the force joined the movement's turbaned clerics in the reviewing stand.
A mock battle between U.S. soldiers -- eight Iraqis in camouflage fatigues, sunglasses and bandanas -- and Iraqis, was well received by the several hundred people who gathered to watch the parade on a blistering afternoon. The scene ended with a woman in Islamic dress killing five of the soldiers and capturing three while chanting Allahu Akbar, or God is Great.
To a hearty round of applause, she set ablaze an American flag.
Citation: Hamza Hendawi. "Chaos Reigns in Sadr City Despite Changes," The Associated Press, 18 June 2005.
Original URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5083943,00.html