Tension is in the air

It seems that everything in Iraq is aggressive. There is just something about this place that makes everything want to attack. This is true for the people, the animals, and even the bugs.

I am not even going to get into the mortar shellings, the bombings of innocent civilians, the IED attacks or the random snipers shooting our soldiers as they provide security patrols in the Iraqi neighborhoods. Operational security prohibits me from talking about the missions we undertake every day, besides this is all in the major newspapers. Just pick up a copy of the New York Times, Washington Post, or the Los Angeles Times they give pretty good coverage. Sorry, I digress...

What I am talking about is a behavioral assessment in other conditions, the type I have noticed when I was out on civil aide missions handing out food and supplies to the needy. We would pull up with a load of food, diapers, and clothing but would have to stop handing the stuff out because of the fights that were developing all around us. We would then calm them down, explain to them that everyone would get an equal supply, and then line them up. They acknowledged our rules and agreed to comply. We would again begin handing out the goods, but within minutes the lines would break down and the fights would start. There is nothing quite like watching women dressed like Jesus’ mother Mary in a WWF style brawl fighting over a $.99 cent ball. The crazy thing is after we had distributed everything and ownership had been established they could set that same ball on the ground and no one would touch it. I guess we just don’t understand their rules.

As I was running today I was attacked by Iraqi flies. Now back in “the world” we have annoying flies that try to bite you when you are out for a walk and even the bothersome house fly that buzzes around trying to get a bite off of your plate. I am sure you all have seen the picture of the poor third world kid sitting with flies crawling all over his face and wonder why he doesn't shoo them away. Well I am here to tell you that these little fellows over here are kamikazes. They repeatedly strike right at your face trying to crawl up your nose, in your mouth or lick you in the eyes with their nasty little tongues. Yeah, I know, disgusting. They do not give up. They are aggressive little buggers who when they have spotted a living being are set on getting their share of body fluids before the other creatures in the desert get theirs. I suppose the poor kid in those pictures just gave up on swatting them away.

Yesterday I saw two doves scrapping in the middle of the road. Feathers were flying as I walked by. I don’t know what the fight was about, but neither bird was giving up. I thought to myself, here are doves, the universal symbol of love and peace, locked in mortal combat in downtown Baghdad. Could it be a religious difference, or perhaps one was from the north while the other was from the south. Perhaps they were in an argument about the SOFA agreement. All I know is they were more interested in killing each other than me walking up to them. I made the peace by breaking up the fight and sending them on their way.

I have a theory. The Middle East and particularly Iraq is called the “cradle of civilization”. For humanity to survive and develop a working society there was a need for aggressive behavior to rise above the environment. Life is hard in this dessert. To survive creatures have had to aggressively pursue resources when they are available. Even though we are an increasingly developed world, the situation here has not changed much over the centuries. To survive requires toughness and tenacity in getting what you can. Modern society is a direct product of this aggressiveness that allowed our ancient ancestors to rise from a tribal existence.

I had a conversation with some state department officials yesterday and they said the people of Iraq are not rude, they are desperate, they always have been, and because of the environment this may not change.

Perhaps more than religious divisions, cultural differences, or even racial divides, it could well be that this area is simply prone to tension based on the environment. This is a tension we can thank for the development of our cultural ideologies, but we can be equally thankful our ancestors moved us to places where we can be at peace.