A continuing series by Dr. Dahlia Wasfi
In late 2004 through early 2005, kidnappings of Westerners became prominent news stories. Fearing for my safety amidst ever-escalating anti-American sentiment, my Iraqi family advised me to stay safely at home.
Yet I was undeterred from making another trip and selfishly gave little thought to the potential danger for my family’s “harboring” an American.
That my father is Iraqi and I was on vacation probably wouldn’t mean much to those seeking expensive ransoms to feed their families or wishing to send a message to foreigners to get out of Iraq.
But I was mostly oblivious to the risks. I figured that if I were kidnapped, I could use the few words of Arabic I’d learned growing up (from when my father was angry) in reference to my government. Surely, I thought, with such skills of wit and a photo of my father, I could get myself out of any sticky situation.
By the end of 2005, with no end to the chaos in sight, my family agreed to host me once again, before the situation deteriorated further.
Because the road from Amman to Baghdad was now exceedingly dangerous, my trip was planned only for Basra this time. Hostility still governed relations between Iraq and Kuwait, not only from the era of Gulf War I, but from the decades of territorial dispute dating back to the early twentieth century.
Even with an American passport, I knew my Iraqi background might be sufficient cause for Kuwaiti border officials to make my trip more difficult. But I didn’t see any other option. I bought tickets to fly via London to Kuwait City, which sits about 82 miles (132 kilometers) from Basra, with the Iraq-Kuwait border about halfway in between.
I had a planned layover in London for two days to attend an anti-war conference organized by the UK Stop the War Coalition. My scheduled flight to Kuwait was for the following evening, December 11th. If Kuwait had been my final destination, I could have made the trip without a problem.
However, four days before the scheduled December 15 elections, Iraq’s borders were sealed for “security” reasons. I had to postpone my trip out of London until the borders were reopened.
With bitter sarcasm, I joked with my family that the new Iraq had so much freedom in it that occupation forces had to close the borders to contain it all.