Posted on 11/21/2003 9:48:02 AM PST by eyespysomething
In Kirkuk, Iraq, a high stone wall surrounds an ornate soldiers' barracks dating from the Ottoman Empire.
Until a few weeks ago, the stone floors were fractured, littered with rubble and silenced by a velvet coat of sun-streaked dust.
The fountain in the center of the courtyard was still, and green with scum. Around it, parched flowers straggled up among bleached cobblestones -- vestiges of bulbs planted long years ago.
This is a historic site, a monument, for the citizens of Kirkuk, defining them to the rest of Iraq, integral to their culture, history and pride. Before Saddam Hussein's rise to power, the people had preserved the site as a museum. But the dictator's deliberate neglect had reduced it to ruins. The grand old building stood in shame, a symbol of the humiliation the people have suffered.
The Iraqis in Kirkuk have had little to hold onto during the past 30 years. The multitude of ethnic groups who dwelled there -- Arabs, Turkomen, Kurds, Assyrians -- were a threat to Saddam's hegemony. He forcibly relocated or executed most of them, awarding his loyalists the lucrative jobs. Despite rich agricultural land and abundant nearby oil reserves, the great majority of people in Kirkuk are desperately poor.
Saddam's brutality angered Col. Bill Mayville, commander of the 173rd Airborne troops who are securing Kirkuk. Mayville and his troops saw in the ruins of the museum a starting point for restoring a sense of community and pride among the disenfranchised people of Kirkuk.
They channeled their anger at Saddam's cruelty into melding a group of Army engineers, local workmen and prominent citizens into a force for reclaiming the derelict building.
Iraqi workmen and American soldiers cleared out debris by the truckload. They swept, scrubbed, rewired and filled the wide halls with the smell of fresh paint.
As completion of the project neared, local artists submitted their work to be displayed in the reborn museum. The 173rd commissioned a Kirkuk sculptor to produce a centerpiece for the courtyard and the grand opening was slated to coincide with the onset of Ramadan.
On Oct. 23, the museum opened to a jubilant throng of proud citizens. The sculpture was unveiled, speeches were made and the old Ottoman structure was baptized by the tears of people who had not walked through its doors for 30 years.
Kurds, Turkomen, Arabs and Assyrians gathered with U. S. troops in the dining hall to share a sumptuous inaugural dinner. Afterwards, men in traditional Arab clothing, Western business suits and Army camouflage joined hands to bob around the floor in what Mayville described as the Iraqi version of a conga line.
The 173rd Airborne was not under orders to restore the museum or to consider the souls of the people of Kirkuk. They initiated the restoration because they understand what it will take to triumph over fear and chaos in a troubled country -- and because they took with them into Iraq the courage and compassion that define the American heart.
The 173rd is not unique in its self-imposed secondary mission. American troops throughout Iraq are offering a steadying hand to frightened people emerging to gather the threads of a life almost forgotten. We would all feel better if we heard more about their successes, like the news of the happy reopening of the Kirkuk museum.
Pass it on.
Carol Megathlin is a writer living in Savannah.
The 173rd is not unique in its self-imposed secondary mission. American troops throughout Iraq are offering a steadying hand to frightened people emerging to gather the threads of a life almost forgotten. We would all feel better if we heard more about their successes, like the news of the happy reopening of the Kirkuk museum.
Pass it on.
Was very happy to read this, and shocked it was in the Atlanta Urinal Constipation.
Political correctness is an amazing phenomenon. Why did we rebuiled an Ottoman monument to their ancestral soldiers who invaded the Christian world and laid waste to Eastern Christian lands, the Balkans, and parts of Western Europe, (our ancestors)? Shudda left it in shambles and rebuilt a hospital or something.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.