Michael Spies

When we entered IRAN, Margot and I were shocked by what we saw, the old cars, the apparent poverty and simpleness of life which we attributed to 40 years of sanctions and an inflation of 40% per year for many years. Allthough, I have to add, the roads were more -or-less ok with many new highways and a lot of construction work.
We were fascinated by the friendliness and joy of the people. Most women smiled and when they saw Margot driving greeted her with cheers. Men were fascinated and wanted Photos with her. Most women were open and seemed confident. Many spoke english and in the cities many drove cars. The cities were more or less well organized.
The initial shock of having all communication channels blocked and only very slow intermittent internet while we were constantly being shadowed and followed by secret police slowly changed. We were controlled every day, sometimes, several times, but the police were always extremely friendly, well groomed and usually spoke english, and it became more and more apparent that although they had the task of making sure we were not journalists and were not checking out strategic targets, they were actually worried about our safety and well being. On one occasion, they even brought food and drinks for the whole group!

IRAK seems totally the opposite.
The rubbish and dust here are extreme, making Iran seem clean!
The cities and infrastructure are in a desolate state, with people looking suspicious and seldom reflecting any joy.
Women are hardly visible in society, and when we see one, she pulls up her Chador over her mouth and looks away.
Not one woman is driving!
Military check points are every few kilometers with our passports being taken away by the police or soldiers who then phone around for ages to find out what they should do with them. 2 hours is not seldom. This process is exhausting! Rough commands are shouted at us in arabic and doesn't really give us a relaxed feeling!
No one speaks english!!
But then, is this surprising? This country has literally been at war for the last 40 years, with Saddam Hussein being the key driver!
(Irak/ran 1980-88, Kuwait 1990, first Gulf war 1991, Massive uprising in Irak 1992 brutally smothered by Saddam Hussein, 1998-2003 second gulf war which literally flattened the country.
Before all this, one group was constantly massacring the other every few years while Saddam"s secret service radically got rid of all opposition. After Saddam was gone, it was Al-Qaida and ISIS, all of Sunni faith, who occupied half of the country, massacring everything that had a different religion.
Reading Iraks history is like a horror story and extremely depressing.Read more