Mayada, Daughter of Iraq: One Woman's Survival Under Saddam Hussein

by Jean Sasson

  Fay and Ali and their mother were together once again.

  Then I was hit with yet another tragedy. Not long after Fay arrived, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. At the time, she was seventy-seven years old, although she looked forty and kept the schedule of a young woman. Her illness came as a shock to her, and to me. Sadly, the cancer spread quickly and I nursed my mother through a dreadful year. She suffered greatly. But I was with her when she died, and for that I am grateful.

  With all these deaths, and with my sister living far away in Tunisia, our little family has now shrunk to three.

  While suffering through many struggles, we were happy to be together, free in Jordan. Few things could diminish our joy for long.

  Then something unusual on the political front began to bubble: renewed talk of freeing Iraq. When American President George Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair first began to speak of liberating Iraq from Saddam Hussein, we thought it was the same tired talk we had heard many times before.

  But now, after a few short weeks of war, my fellow Iraqis have been freed.

  Hot tears stream from my eyes when the vision of cell 52 comes to my mind. But I await yet another miracle, the miracle that you and the other women survived. I promise you this, that as soon as it is safe to leave my children and travel into Iraq, I will come to look for you and the other shadow women. If you are alive, one day I will be united in happiness with you, and with every shadow woman I came to know and love.

  I greatly anticipate that day.

  Your loving friend,

  Mayada

  After signing the letter to Samara, Mayada rose from the chair and walked to the edge of her terrace. She propped her elbows on the railing and gazed thoughtfully to the east. To Iraq. She was free to go home now, for the first time in four years. After the darkest of nights, the sun had risen triumphantly over her country. Tasting total freedom, she felt as close as she could to complete happiness.

  And behind the turmoil of war and recent victory, Mayada could feel the presence of Sati Al-Husri and Jafar Al-Askari. Both of these great men had served Iraq long ago, during another pivotal time in Iraqi history. Mayada hoped there would arise similarly noble-minded men—men who truly cared about Iraq, men who would rise to this historic time of great need, men who would work for the good of Iraq’s future.

  This was only the second time in the history of modern Iraq that a blank page had been opened in the nation’s book—a page on which the annals of history waited to be written, a page that would describe Iraq’s future.

  Mayada gazed to the east as she prayed, “May Allah guide the hand that writes on that blank page.”

  APPENDIX I

  EXTRACT FROM SPEECH IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS BY THE RT. HON. WINSTON CHURCHILL, M.P. ON JUNE 14TH, 1921

  The Arab army is already partly formed under the administration of Ja’far Pasha, the present Mesopotamian Secretary of State for War. I do not know whether the Committee have in their minds the romantic career of this man. I have no doubt my Hon. and Gallant Friend the Member for the Wrekin Division (Sir C. Townshend) is well acquainted with it. He began the War fighting against us at the Dardanelles, and he achieved a German Iron Cross. He then came round to the Western Desert where he commanded the army of the Senoussi against us. He fought, I believe, three battles, in two of which he was victorious, but the third went amiss from his point of view, and he was wounded and pursued by the Dorsetshire Yeomanry and finally caught in the open field, taken to Cairo as prisoner of war and confined in the citadel. He endeavoured to escape, but, being a somewhat ample personage, the rope by which he was descending from the wall of the citadel broke and precipitated him into a ditch, where his leg was broken. While he was in hospital recovering from these injuries he read in the papers that King Hussein, the Sherif of Mecca, had declared war upon the Turks and he immediately saw that he was on the other side to what he had hitherto thought. He therefore made representations to the Arab leaders at Mecca, and after some hesitation he was given a command in their army. He very speedily rose to a position of high confidence and distinguished himself greatly in the fighting which took place in the next two years. He was finally given the Companionship of St. Michael and St. George by Lord Allenby in a hollow square of British troops composed almost entirely of the same Dorsetshire Yeomanry which had ridden him down. Such is the personality of the Mesopotamian Minister of War, and he is of course a devoted adherent of the Sherif of Mecca.

  OBITUARY JAFAR PASHA IRAQI SOLDIER AND DIPLOMATIST

  General Jafar Pasha el Askari, the Iraqi Minister of Defence, who was shot after the coup d’Etat last Thursday, had had an extraordinary career in the War, first against and then with the British. He was twice Iraqi Minister in London and five times Minister of Defence in the Iraqi Cabinet. He was a shrewd, kindly, and capable soldier, a good organizer, a careful diplomatist, and a most joyous and amusing companion, who had many friends in this country.

  The Pasha was a Baghdadi. He was born in 1880 and was trained in the Turkish Military College in Constantinople. In the War, in which he won the German Iron Cross, he was selected by Damad Enver Pasha for the difficult task of organizing the Senussi of Libya (who were then not yet subjected to the dominion of the Italians, who had acquired that province from the Turks during the war of 1912) so as to threaten Egypt from the Western Desert. He was landed hazardously on the Libyan coast from a German submarine and succeeded in persuading the Senussi to accept his authority and obey his orders. He was therefore for some time able to wage successful desert warfare against the British until he was ridden down and captured by the Dorset Yeomanry during the fighting at Agagia on February 26, 1916.

  As a prisoner of war he was lodged in the citadel of Cairo. One night he contrived a rope of knotted blankets and was on the point of escaping; but one of the blankets parted under the Pasha’s great weight and the fall injured one of his ankles so severely that he was unable to get away. He had, however, established excellent relations with his captors, and insisted on paying for the torn blanket. As soon as he had recovered from his injury he was released on parole, and when he learned of the outbreak of the Arab Revolt against the Turks joined the Army of King Husain in the Hejaz and served with the Emir Feisal and Lawrence in command of the Hejazi regular troops in the campaign up to the fall of Damascus.

  Before the end of that campaign the Pasha had been decorated by General Allenby at his Headquarters at Bir Salem in Palestine in the middle of a hollow square composed of his captors, the Dorset Yeomanry, whose selection as a guard of honour on that occasion delighted Jafar, who had a keen sense of humour and insisted on wearing his Iron Cross at the ceremony.

  After the capture of Aleppo he was appointed its Governor, and when the Emir Feisal became King of Iraq he served as Minister of Defence in the two Cabinets headed by the Naqib of Baghdad from August, 1921, to November, 1922. The Pasha was then appointed first Iraqi Minister to the Court of St. James’s, and in that capacity attended the Peace Conference at Lausanne, where his vast and jovial presence made a great impression on the diplomatists and others who were gathered there.

  In November, 1923, King Feisal recalled him to Baghdad to be Prime Minister until August, 1924, when he returned to his Legation in London. He was again Prime Minister and also Minister for Foreign Affairs from November, 1926, to January, 1928, and on his way back to London in March of that year to resume his diplomatic career was very nearly captured by Wahabi raiders while his aeroplane was delayed at Ramadi. On his return to London the Pasha read for the English Bar, and was called by Gray’s Inn on January 15, 1930. In the following month he was the guest, with Lord Allenby, at a reunion dinner of the Dorset Yeomanry, for whom he had the highest esteem, and in March, 1930, was again recalled to Iraq to become Minister of Defence until October, 1932, in the two Cabinets of General Nuri Pasha es Said, whose sister Jafar had married. Once again Jafar became Minister in London, where he greatly enjoyed being, from November, 1932, until Dec
ember, 1934, when he was appointed a Senator and returned to Iraq. In March, 1935, he entered the Cabinet which has just fallen as Minister of Defence, his fifth tenure of that office.

  APPENDIX II

  IRAQI HEADS OF STATE SINCE IRAQ’S FOUNDATION IN 1921

  King Faisal I (1921-1933)

  Died of heart problems

  King Ghazi I (1933-1939)

  Died in car accident

  King Faisal II (1939-1958)

  Assassinated

  Abdul-Karim Qasim (1958-1963)

  Assassinated

  Abdul-Salam Arif (1963-1966)

  Died in a helicopter accident

  Abdul-Rahman Arif (1966-1968)

  Still alive in 2003

  Ahmed Hassan al-Bakir (1968-1979)

  Died of natural causes in 1982

  Saddam Hussein (1979-2003)

  Fate unknown at time of publication

  Courtesy Dan Hajost

  IRAQ TIMELINE

  April 1920:

  San Remo Peace Conference of Allied Powers endorses the British and French mandate over the Middle East.

  August 23, 1921:

  King Faisal is crowned King of Iraq. Mayada’s paternal grandfather, Jafar Pasha Al-Askari, is appointed Minister of Defense. Mayada’s maternal grandfather, Sati Al-Husri is appointed advisor to King Faisal on matters of education. Mayada’s father’s uncle, Nouri Pasha Al-Said, is appointed Chief of Staff.

  1927:

  British strike oil at Kirkuk, Iraq.

  November 16, 1930:

  Anglo-Iraqi Treaty is ratified with Nouri Pasha Al-Said.

  October 1932:

  Formal independence is given to Iraq.

  September 8, 1933:

  King Faisal I dies. His son, Ghazi, is crowned king.

  October 1936:

  Mayada’s grandfather, Jafar Pasha Al-Askari, is assassinated during Iraq’s first military coup.

  August 11, 1937:

  General Bakr Sidqi is assassinated in Mosul.

  December 1938:

  Nouri Pasha Al-Said becomes Prime Minister of Iraq.

  April 1939:

  King Ghazi I dies in an automobile accident. His four-year-old son, Faisal II, succeeds. Prince Abd al-llah is appointed Regent.

  April 1, 1941:

  Nouri Al-Said and the six-year-old king are forced to flee after a military coup.

  June 1941:

  Civil order breaks down in Baghdad. There is a pogrom against Iraqi Jews, with loss of life and injury.

  July 14, 1958:

  Military coup in Iraq led by Abdul-Karim Qasim. King Faisal II, members of the royal family, and Prime Minister Nouri Al-Said are assassinated.

  October 7, 1959:

  First Baathist coup fails. Saddam Hussein flees to Egypt.

  June 19, 1961:

  Kuwait declares its independence from Great Britain.

  February 8, 1963:

  Baathist coup succeeds.

  November 18, 1963:

  Countercoup overthrows the Baath Party.

  July 17, 1968:

  After repeated coups in Iraq, Ahmad Hassan al-Bakir brings the Baathists back into power. Saddam Hussein is second in command as Bakri’s deputy, although he is the real power in Iraq.

  July 16, 1979:

  Saddam Hussein replaces Ahmed Hassan Bakri as the President of Iraq. There is a purge in the Baath Party and many members are put to death. (Bakri dies in 1982.)

  April 1, 1980:

  Pro-Iranian al-Dawa Party attempts assassination of Tariq Aziz, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq. Iraq blames Iran for the attempt. Saddam Hussein expels Iranian-born Shiites from Iraqi soil.

  September 1980:

  Iraq and Iran go to war.

  June 7, 1981:

  Israel bombs the Iraqi Osirak nuclear plant near Baghdad.

  May 21, 1987:

  USS Stark attacked in Persian Gulf, killing 37. The United States blames Iran, although the Stark was attacked by two Iraqi missiles.

  1987:

  Saddam Hussein uses chemical warfare against Kurdish villages, killing thousands.

  February 1988:

  Iran and Iraq resume the “war of the cities,” attacking each other’s civilian population.

  March 16, 1988:

  Iraq again uses chemical weapons against the Kurds, killing thousands more.

  July 3, 1988:

  An Iranian airbus passenger aircraft is shot down by the USS Vincennes. 290 civilians are killed.

  August 20, 1988:

  Formal cease-fire in the Iran-Iraq war.

  September 1989:

  Farzad Bazoft, a British journalist, is accused of spying and is hanged in Baghdad.

  August 2, 1990:

  Iraq invades Kuwait. UN Resolution 660 calls for Saddam Hussein to withdrawn his troops.

  August 8, 1990:

  Iraq annexes Kuwait as its nineteenth province.

  January 17, 1991:

  Operation Desert Storm begins.

  February 28, 1991:

  Cease-fire.

  April 3, 1991:

  UN Security Council Resolution 687 establishes the terms of the peace. All Iraqi troops are out of Kuwait. Economic sanctions and Iraqi disarmament commence.

  December 12, 1996:

  Uday, Saddam Hussein’s eldest son, is seriously wounded in an assassination attempt.

  November 1, 1998:

  All UNSCOM inspectors withdrawn from Iraq.

  January 30, 2002:

  President George Bush calls Iraq part of an “axis of evil” during his State of the Union address.

  September 12, 2002:

  Bush calls for action against Iraq. Iraq says it will allow international weapons inspectors to “return without conditions.”

  October 10, 2002:

  Congress adopts a joint resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq.

  October 16, 2002:

  Iraq renews offer to UN weapons inspectors. Saddam Hussein wins another seven-year term as President—receiving 100% of the vote.

  January 28, 2003:

  President Bush says that Saddam Hussein is not disarming.

  February 5, 2003:

  Secretary of State Colin Powell uses satellite photos in a bid to win over international opinion during a UN Security Council presentation.

  March 5, 2003:

  France, Germany, and Russia release a joint declaration stating they will not allow the UN resolution authorizing military action in Iraq to pass in the UN.

  March 7, 2003:

  The United States, Great Britain, Spain and Portugal meet in the Azores, issuing a one-day deadline for diplomacy. The leaders warn that the war could start at any time.

  March 17, 2003:

  The United States and Britain withdraw their Security Council resolution draft. Weapons inspectors are advised to leave Iraq. President Bush issues an ultimatum to Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi President is given forty-eight hours to leave Iraq.

  March 20, 2003:

  Coalition forces launch an “attack of opportunity” against specific targets in Iraq.

  March 21, 2003:

  Coalition ground forces move into Iraq.

  March 25, 2003:

  Coalition forces, mainly British, begin fighting Iraqi militia in Basra, Iraq’s second largest city.

  April 2, 2003:

  U.S. forces reach the outskirts of Baghdad.

  April 3, 2003:

  U.S. forces take control of Saddam International Airport in southern Baghdad.

  April 9, 2003:

  Baghdad falls to U.S. forces. Statues of Saddam Hussein begin to topple.

  April 13, 2003:

  Tikrit, the hometown of Saddam Hussein, is taken by U.S. forces.

  April 15, 2003:

  Coalition partners declare the war over.

  FACTS ABOUT IRAQ

  FACTS ON NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES

  ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN

  HASHEMITE KINGDOM OF JORDAN

  S
TATE OF KUWAIT

  KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA

  SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC

  REPUBLIC OF TURKEY

  GLOSSARY

  Al-Askari, Jafar Pasha (1885-1936): Paternal grandfather of Mayada

  Al-Askari. Jafar Al-Askari was from a prominent Baghdadi family. During World War I he served with Prince Faisal and Lawrence of Arabia in command of the Hijaz regular troops. After the war he served King Faisal I and King Ghazi I, both of Iraq, in many government capacities, including Minister to Great Britain and Minister of Defense and Prime Minister of Iraq. He was assassinated while protecting King Ghazi I in 1936.

  Al-Faw: A peninsula on the Iraqi Persian Gulf coast; fighting occurred at the offshore oil terminals there during the Iran-Iraq war and Gulf War II.

  Al-Husri, Sati (1879-1969): Mayada Al-Askari’s maternal grandfather. Sati Al-Husri was one of the first Arab Nationalists. Sati believed that Arab Nationalism was the only route out of colonialism and imperialism for the Arabs. He was an educator, a writer and a government minister. Sati was a personal friend of King Faisal I and served him in many capacities. There are over a hundred books and articles written about Sati Al-Husri. All Arab countries today have a street, a school and an auditorium named for this great man.

  Al-Sa’ud: The ruling dynasty of Saudi Arabia.

  American University in Beirut: University in Beirut founded by Dr. Daniel Bliss of the American Protestant Mission. With a student body drawn from all over the Middle East, the university has helped to create a class of Arab intellectuals.