Maḩallat al Mishrāq

Babylon, the cradle of civilisation built by the king Nebukazdezzar, is today a reconstructed town wall and a lot of old bricks and so didn't impress me too much, instead it was the huge castle on an artificial hill that Saddam Hussein had built himself at this location. Saddam, the dictator and permanent aggressor, obviously saw himself as the modern Nebukadezzar. Looking at this huge deserted building full of graffiti somehow dropped me into deep sadness for this country. Saddam eradicated minorities who bothered him, killed all opposition and then started a terrible war against Iran, followed by his invasion of Kuwait which literally levelled Kuwait, then when forced to withdraw he set fire to hundreds of oil well-heads causing one of the greatest nature catastrophes ever, and requiring months to put out the fires, and then provoked the total bombing and eradication of his country, which is still destroyed today despite being one of the greatest oil producers in the world.
What a great story!
Later, at the Kuwait border, I spoke with a policeman who was 13 years old at the time, his description of the period of burning wells was horrifying. For three years, Kuwait did not see the sun which was covered by black smoke.Read more