Iraq: Glimpse of A Country Under Occupation!
photograpy by Babrak salary
The American invasion of Iraq started with the claim and pretension of bringing “freedom and democracy” to Iraqi people. The stark reality of the occupation, and the destruction they wreaked on Iraq has exposed these claims as lies. Iraqi people’s culture and heritage has come under sustained and systematic attack. The overly armed American soldiers have come to dominate physically the living space of the Iraqis, pushing them to the side, and condemning them to a life of misery and subsistence. They are made to feel increasingly alienated and disposed in their own home country, and feel to be worse off than when Saddam was in power. Different studies show about 1.2 million Iraqis have been killed since the US- led invasion of March 2003.
To get to know intimately these issues, to record, collect and reflect them as a witness to the gross violation of Iraqis human rights and dignity, I travelled to Iraq between December 2003 and January 2004. However, these photographs – a very meager selection of almost 5000 frames of analogue and digital photos are just a small drop of the ocean of inhumanity of occupation and neo-colonialism, as well as a testimony to the resilience and resistance of Iraqi people.
The condition reflected in this project has since then deteriorated extensively. Different studies show about 1.2 million Iraqis have been killed since the US- led invasion of March 2003.Iraq has gone down the same road of oblivion and denial by mass media as, previously, Afghanistan did. The same fate has befallen this project, meeting mostly with silence, indifference and rejection, except some coverage in alternative media (Fuse magazine). With this small presentation, I hope to raise more questions and awareness of the predicament of the people of Iraq, and perhaps inspire a new search to find some answers!