Allison Tait over at the Pink Fibro does this great regular weekend rewind, were she does a bit of blog hop link love, rewinding to a previous year. This time she asked us to drag out a post from a march of a previous year. As this particular blog was not firing on all cylinders at that time, I hopped over to my other blog which is on hiatus for an unspecified period, (although it get's more traffic than this one!). I scoured through many posts, and found one from March 2003.
I'm re-posting it here because it feels appropriate. There is turmoil out in the world again today, over in that part of the world still, and sometimes it pays to think about how long it has really been going on. The turmoil seems sometimes to be coursing through the veins of the region and I wonder whether they will ever escape it.
Thursday, March 20, 2003
19.03.03 Where the sun is setting in the west.
Last night I swam in the pool in the evening calm, watching a big golden sun set over the oasis behind the hotel wall, trying to empty my head of the stress of the day. Gradually as my head emptied of work thoughts I become overwhelmed with emotion at the thought of the people in Baghdad. They have so much more to worry about than my petty daily stresses. How could I be so calmly swimming with war brewing further up the gulf and with so many lives about to be lost? All day today my mind has been wandering to Baghdad and the reality of the coming days paralyzes me.
The Australian Embassy in the UAE has issued statements suggesting we leave and head home as have most Western Embassies, yet most expats continue life as normal and the ‘long termer’ expats try to convince the rest of us we are safe. Many people are trying to convince themselves that the UAE is one of the safer places to be. I hope so.
Evacuees are arriving from Kuwait and other countries in the region; they obviously think it is safe here. Community groups are holding meetings to try and organize accommodation for those that can’t afford the rooms in the hotels in Dubai and Abu Dhabi which are apparently filling with families of oil wealthy Arabs.
War is of course the focus of most conversations, as it is in the rest of the world. The news of the cricket follows a close second, although I don’t know whether Sri Lanka won against Australia or not, it doesn't really matter now.
Long termers tell tales of the last war, some are ex-military men and women who never left the region; some are ex-hostages that were in Kuwait at the time. There are stories of the plunder of cultural artifacts in both Kuwait and Iraq, of the plunder of houses and hospitals, there are stories of convoys of 4WD’s fleeing across the desert to Saudi and there are stories of the road-blocks and the fires, hundreds and hundreds of cars burning on the side of the road. The Iraqi military tried to burn everything.
Feelings in this country range from vehement opposition to this war to strong support for it. The strongest expat supporters of the war are military and ex-military and people who have been in the region for a long time, along with those that were caught in Kuwait last time. The “disappearance” of most of the Marsh Arabs and the plight of the Iraqis and Kurds play a large part in their arguments.
News in the papers includes photos of the many demonstrations around the globe, including a front cover photo of the Fed. Square Demo’ held in Melbourne not long ago. Quite selfishly I am thankful for that. It may stem some of the backlash that will no doubt come.
I no longer have an opinion about this war except for this ever growing sorrow. I have to say I just don’t know which way is up, which way down, what is right, what is wrong. I just wish the madman and his cronies in Baghdad would shrivel up and disappear, and they can take Bush and Howard while they are at it. The media cacophony has me confused and despondent.
Tonight I will go out on to the balcony and look westward toward Iraq and the setting sun. The moon is full and round in an inky blue sky. The millitary men here tell me it is a hunting moon. The stage is set for war isn't it.
Last night I swam in the pool in the evening calm, watching a big golden sun set over the oasis behind the hotel wall, trying to empty my head of the stress of the day. Gradually as my head emptied of work thoughts I become overwhelmed with emotion at the thought of the people in Baghdad. They have so much more to worry about than my petty daily stresses. How could I be so calmly swimming with war brewing further up the gulf and with so many lives about to be lost? All day today my mind has been wandering to Baghdad and the reality of the coming days paralyzes me.
The Australian Embassy in the UAE has issued statements suggesting we leave and head home as have most Western Embassies, yet most expats continue life as normal and the ‘long termer’ expats try to convince the rest of us we are safe. Many people are trying to convince themselves that the UAE is one of the safer places to be. I hope so.
Evacuees are arriving from Kuwait and other countries in the region; they obviously think it is safe here. Community groups are holding meetings to try and organize accommodation for those that can’t afford the rooms in the hotels in Dubai and Abu Dhabi which are apparently filling with families of oil wealthy Arabs.
War is of course the focus of most conversations, as it is in the rest of the world. The news of the cricket follows a close second, although I don’t know whether Sri Lanka won against Australia or not, it doesn't really matter now.
Long termers tell tales of the last war, some are ex-military men and women who never left the region; some are ex-hostages that were in Kuwait at the time. There are stories of the plunder of cultural artifacts in both Kuwait and Iraq, of the plunder of houses and hospitals, there are stories of convoys of 4WD’s fleeing across the desert to Saudi and there are stories of the road-blocks and the fires, hundreds and hundreds of cars burning on the side of the road. The Iraqi military tried to burn everything.
Feelings in this country range from vehement opposition to this war to strong support for it. The strongest expat supporters of the war are military and ex-military and people who have been in the region for a long time, along with those that were caught in Kuwait last time. The “disappearance” of most of the Marsh Arabs and the plight of the Iraqis and Kurds play a large part in their arguments.
News in the papers includes photos of the many demonstrations around the globe, including a front cover photo of the Fed. Square Demo’ held in Melbourne not long ago. Quite selfishly I am thankful for that. It may stem some of the backlash that will no doubt come.
I no longer have an opinion about this war except for this ever growing sorrow. I have to say I just don’t know which way is up, which way down, what is right, what is wrong. I just wish the madman and his cronies in Baghdad would shrivel up and disappear, and they can take Bush and Howard while they are at it. The media cacophony has me confused and despondent.
Tonight I will go out on to the balcony and look westward toward Iraq and the setting sun. The moon is full and round in an inky blue sky. The millitary men here tell me it is a hunting moon. The stage is set for war isn't it.
