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In the News

The legacy of war on impoverished Iraqis

In dozens of interviews with The Washington Post this summer, many Iraqis said their lives had been safer and more prosperous under Saddam Hussein, and that the U.S. invasion was not worth the price both countries have paid. Others were grateful that the Americans ousted Hussein, but are happy that they, too, are now gone.

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July 9, 2012

Halima Daham, 44, who is still officially mourning the recent death of her husband, sits with two of her six children — Ali Khamas, 6, left, and Fatima Khamas, 5 — at their home in the Sadr City area of Baghdad. Daham’s husband died this past March. He had suffered for almost eight years from health complications after he lost his legs to U.S. tank fire in 2004 while walking to the store for cigarettes. With little help from the Iraqi government and not a word from the U.S. government, Daham struggles to get by. In early July, she sold earrings that her late husband gave to her youngest daughter in order to cover some necessities. “Of course I blame the Americans for what happened to my husband. I don’t have him, my children don’t have a father,” said Daham, covered in a black veil except for her eyes. “I am glad that the Americans got rid of Saddam and his followers. But we got hurt by both sides. And we got nothing from the Americans or the new Iraqi government.”

Jahi Chikwendiu / The Washington Post

Zahra Khamas, 9, right, kisses a picture of her deceased father while standing next to her mother, Halima Daham, 44, at their home in the Sadr City area of Baghdad. Zahra’s father died this past March, after nearly eight years of health complications relating to the loss of his legs to U.S. tank fire in 2004. “I miss him so much,” said the young girl.

July 10, 2012

Zahra Khamas, 9, right, kisses a picture of her deceased father while standing next to her mother, Halima Daham, 44, at their home in the Sadr City area of Baghdad. Zahra’s father died this past March, after nearly eight years of health complications relating to the loss of his legs to U.S. tank fire in 2004. “I miss him so much,” said the young girl.

Jahi Chikwendiu / The Washington Post

Halima Daham, 44, seated left, finishes dinner with two of her six children — Ali Khamas, 6, seated left, Zaineb Khamas, 12, standing. and Fatima Khamas, 5 — at their home in the Sadr City area of Baghdad.

July 9, 2012

Halima Daham, 44, seated left, finishes dinner with two of her six children — Ali Khamas, 6, seated left, Zaineb Khamas, 12, standing. and Fatima Khamas, 5 — at their home in the Sadr City area of Baghdad.

Jahi Chikwendiu / The Washington Post

Zahra Khamas, 9, left, and her older sister Layla Khamas, 24, prepare breakfast for their family at their home in the Sadr City area of Baghdad. They are two of 44-year-old Halim Daham’s six children; their father died in March, after nearly eight years of health complications relating to the loss of his legs to U.S. tank fire in 2004. Now Daham and her six children live largely on charity from relatives.“They are also poor people, but they help me when they can,” she said.

July 10, 2012

Zahra Khamas, 9, left, and her older sister Layla Khamas, 24, prepare breakfast for their family at their home in the Sadr City area of Baghdad. They are two of 44-year-old Halim Daham’s six children; their father died in March, after nearly eight years of health complications relating to the loss of his legs to U.S. tank fire in 2004. Now Daham and her six children live largely on charity from relatives.“They are also poor people, but they help me when they can,” she said.

Jahi Chikwendiu / The Washington Post

Halima Daham, 44, right, sews clothes to try to make a little income as three of her children — Ali Khamas, 6, left, Fatima Khamas, 5, and Abbas Khamas, 15 — walk around their home in the Sadr City area of Baghdad.

July 9, 2012

Halima Daham, 44, right, sews clothes to try to make a little income as three of her children — Ali Khamas, 6, left, Fatima Khamas, 5, and Abbas Khamas, 15 — walk around their home in the Sadr City area of Baghdad.

Jahi Chikwendiu / The Washington Post

A broken bottle of nail polish lies at the feet of Fatima Khamas, 5, and sister Zahra Khamas, 9, at their home in the Sadr City section of Baghdad.

July 9, 2012,

A broken bottle of nail polish lies at the feet of Fatima Khamas, 5, and sister Zahra Khamas, 9, at their home in the Sadr City section of Baghdad.

Jahi Chikwendiu / The Washington Post

Zahra Khamas, 9, crouched left, cleans up a broken bottle of nail polish dropped by her sister, Fatima Khamas, 5, right, as their brother, Ali Khamas, 6, plays with a soccer ball behind them, in Baghdad.

July 9, 2012

Zahra Khamas, 9, crouched left, cleans up a broken bottle of nail polish dropped by her sister, Fatima Khamas, 5, right, as their brother, Ali Khamas, 6, plays with a soccer ball behind them, in Baghdad.

Jahi Chikwendiu / The Washington Post

Layla Khamas, 24, left, and Zaineb Khamas, 12, chat after breakfast at their home in the Sadr City area of Baghdad. The sisters live with their mother, Halima Daham, 44, and their four other siblings; their father died in March.

July 10, 2012

Layla Khamas, 24, left, and Zaineb Khamas, 12, chat after breakfast at their home in the Sadr City area of Baghdad. The sisters live with their mother, Halima Daham, 44, and their four other siblings; their father died in March.

Jahi Chikwendiu / The Washington Post

Halima Daham, 44, left, has breakfast with her daughters — Zaineb Khamas, 12, left, and Zahra Khamas, 9 — at their home in the Sadr City area of Baghdad.

July 10, 2012

Halima Daham, 44, left, has breakfast with her daughters — Zaineb Khamas, 12, left, and Zahra Khamas, 9 — at their home in the Sadr City area of Baghdad.

Jahi Chikwendiu / The Washington Post

The brother of Hamza al-Husseini, left, was killed by a suicide bomber in early July, leaving behind his wife and six children — including his two sons, Ahmed Falah Hassan, 2, center, and Kareem Falah Hassan, 15 — in Karbala, Iraq. In the city, some 60 miles south of Baghdad, Hamza's brother, a taxi driver named Falah Hussein al-Husseini, pulled into crowded vegetable market at about 9:30 a.m. on July 3, looking for a mid-morning bite to eat. Just the day before, his family had chipped in to buy him a new $13,000 Hyundai taxi, his first car with air-conditioning. As he drove into the market, a suicide attacker set off a car bomb that killed the 42-year-old and at least three other people; 30 others were wounded. “He was so happy, but only for one day,” said Hamza, interviewed in his dead brother’s small cinder-block farm house, where his widow and children live.

July 13, 2012

The brother of Hamza al-Husseini, left, was killed by a suicide bomber in early July, leaving behind his wife and six children — including his two sons, Ahmed Falah Hassan, 2, center, and Kareem Falah Hassan, 15 — in Karbala, Iraq. In the city, some 60 miles south of Baghdad, Hamza's brother, a taxi driver named Falah Hussein al-Husseini, pulled into crowded vegetable market at about 9:30 a.m. on July 3, looking for a mid-morning bite to eat. Just the day before, his family had chipped in to buy him a new $13,000 Hyundai taxi, his first car with air-conditioning. As he drove into the market, a suicide attacker set off a car bomb that killed the 42-year-old and at least three other people; 30 others were wounded. “He was so happy, but only for one day,” said Hamza, interviewed in his dead brother’s small cinder-block farm house, where his widow and children live.

Jahi Chikwendiu / The Washington Post

Jamal Hussain, an Iraqi journalist, was injured in an explosion in September 2011 in Karbala, Iraq. Al-Qaeda in Iraq, a Sunni militant group, has taken credit for an increasing campaign of violence against the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite. Other Sunni Muslim insurgents also stage attacks to destabilize Maliki’s U.S.-backed government. There are assassinations and bombings nearly every day — car bombs, roadside bombs, market bombs and “sticky bombs,” which are attached to the bottom of buses and cars. After a few relatively quiet months, the killing started spiking again in June. Still, violence has vastly decreased in Iraq since its peak in 2006, according to the London-based independent Web site Iraq Body Count (IBC). By that group’s calculations, about 79 civilians died each day in 2006, compared with 11 per day through the end of June this year. June’s total of 472 deaths made it the deadliest month since August 2010, according to IBC figures. Despite this summer’s resurgence of attacks by al-Qaeda in Iraq, and the relentless targeting of Shiites by Sunni extremists, few here said they believed that the country would descend to 2006 levels of violence.

July 12, 2012

Jamal Hussain, an Iraqi journalist, was injured in an explosion in September 2011 in Karbala, Iraq. Al-Qaeda in Iraq, a Sunni militant group, has taken credit for an increasing campaign of violence against the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite. Other Sunni Muslim insurgents also stage attacks to destabilize Maliki’s U.S.-backed government. There are assassinations and bombings nearly every day — car bombs, roadside bombs, market bombs and “sticky bombs,” which are attached to the bottom of buses and cars. After a few relatively quiet months, the killing started spiking again in June. Still, violence has vastly decreased in Iraq since its peak in 2006, according to the London-based independent Web site Iraq Body Count (IBC). By that group’s calculations, about 79 civilians died each day in 2006, compared with 11 per day through the end of June this year. June’s total of 472 deaths made it the deadliest month since August 2010, according to IBC figures. Despite this summer’s resurgence of attacks by al-Qaeda in Iraq, and the relentless targeting of Shiites by Sunni extremists, few here said they believed that the country would descend to 2006 levels of violence.

Jahi Chikwendiu / The Washington Post

Sulaiman al-Jiboori shows the long scar running down his spine at his home in Tikrit, Iraq, Saddam Hussein’s home town. Jiboori, 58, said the scar is from surgery to repair bones in his back that were broken during beatings by Hussein’s security forces. An influential tribal leader with a law degree from Baghdad University, Jiboori said he was a provincial government official in 1990 when Hussein invaded Kuwait, which he claims shocked even many of Hussein’s closest supporters. He was afraid that the subsequent war with the United States would devastate Iraq, so he and other government and military officials began plotting ways to force Hussein from power, but, according to Jiboori, the discussions didn’t get very far before they were caught by the dictator’s regime.

July 7, 2012

Sulaiman al-Jiboori shows the long scar running down his spine at his home in Tikrit, Iraq, Saddam Hussein’s home town. Jiboori, 58, said the scar is from surgery to repair bones in his back that were broken during beatings by Hussein’s security forces. An influential tribal leader with a law degree from Baghdad University, Jiboori said he was a provincial government official in 1990 when Hussein invaded Kuwait, which he claims shocked even many of Hussein’s closest supporters. He was afraid that the subsequent war with the United States would devastate Iraq, so he and other government and military officials began plotting ways to force Hussein from power, but, according to Jiboori, the discussions didn’t get very far before they were caught by the dictator’s regime.

Jahi Chikwendiu / The Washington Post

Ma'ath Hamid, 7, front, amuses himself by moving a table with the help of his father, Hamid Hamed, 31, as his younger brother, Anass Hamid, 3, sits on the couch at their home in Fallujah, Iraq. Ma'ath suffers from muscular atrophy of the brain, a disease that he was born with. In 2004, when Ma'ath's mother was pregnant with him and the family was living in the suburbs of Fallujah, in a village called Hay al-Jugaifi, bombs exploded as the U.S. military attacked a nearby house. Hamed remembers gathering his family — including his wife, his mother and two of his sisters — and running from his house through a white cloud of smoke that smelled of explosives. Six months after Ma'ath was born in March 2005, his mother, Rajed Abdul Sattar, noticed his slow development. Given the dangers of going to a hospital in Baghdad, the family took Ma'ath to Syria. After doctors there examined Ma'ath, his father was taken aback when the doctor asked if their family was from Fallujah. Although there is no conclusive evidence, Ma'ath's problems follow a pattern of unusually high birth defects that may be caused by the white phosphorous or depleted uranium found in weapons used by the U.S. military in their 2004 Fallujah battles. One of Hamed's sisters, who was with him as they fled their home during the 2004 attack, has had three babies who died within the first 1 to 3 months of being born.

July 23, 2012

Ma'ath Hamid, 7, front, amuses himself by moving a table with the help of his father, Hamid Hamed, 31, as his younger brother, Anass Hamid, 3, sits on the couch at their home in Fallujah, Iraq. Ma'ath suffers from muscular atrophy of the brain, a disease that he was born with. In 2004, when Ma'ath's mother was pregnant with him and the family was living in the suburbs of Fallujah, in a village called Hay al-Jugaifi, bombs exploded as the U.S. military attacked a nearby house. Hamed remembers gathering his family — including his wife, his mother and two of his sisters — and running from his house through a white cloud of smoke that smelled of explosives. Six months after Ma'ath was born in March 2005, his mother, Rajed Abdul Sattar, noticed his slow development. Given the dangers of going to a hospital in Baghdad, the family took Ma'ath to Syria. After doctors there examined Ma'ath, his father was taken aback when the doctor asked if their family was from Fallujah. Although there is no conclusive evidence, Ma'ath's problems follow a pattern of unusually high birth defects that may be caused by the white phosphorous or depleted uranium found in weapons used by the U.S. military in their 2004 Fallujah battles. One of Hamed's sisters, who was with him as they fled their home during the 2004 attack, has had three babies who died within the first 1 to 3 months of being born.

Jahi Chikwendiu / The Washington Post

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