Iraqis want security from new government

After the kidnappings, car-jackings and random death threats , Iraqis need security

After the kidnappings, car-jackings and random death threats , Iraqis need security. How to deliver it is the burning question, reports Jack Fairweather, in Baghdad

Sarmad Kamal and his family debate furiously the ups and downs of the US occupation of Iraq. But they are united in what they want to be the priority for Iraq's new government.

"Security," said Sarmad, a 25-year-old doctor. His family nodded in agreement over lunch.

But who should bring this and how forceful an approach should be taken sparks lively discussion, at the dinner table of this middle-class Baghdad family, and across the country.

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Many Iraqis think only an iron fist will stop the kidnappings, car-jackings and random death threats that have dominated Iraqi lives more closely than the US military or US-led coalition government.

Others want snap elections. Some even want the US military to stay.

"We must have an elected government," said Sarmad, the idealist in the family. He believed only democracy would bring peace to his countrymen by making them feel their voices were heard.

His older brother Ahmed, disagreed. A 32-year-old slightly corpulent planning ministry official, he said only a military officer can impose order. "Just look at our history. We need control," he said.

Their mother, Dalal, wanted her family to get behind the Prime Minister Mr Iyad Allawi, while the father threw his hands in the air and moaned that nothing could help the situation now.

"Maybe the Americans could stay for longer," whispered Dania, a twenty-four year computer science graduate. The Kamal's debate reflects the scale of the change that many Iraqis feel sovereignty will bring, although few are optimistic about the future. They say the steady decline in security has forced them to temper their hopes for the freedom and democracy they thought American rule would bring.

For the Kamals its been a bumpy fourteen months. Sarmad, like most students at his medical college, welcomed the openness brought to his campus by the US-led invasion. But since then, he says, religious groups have moved in and begun to impose their austere vision of Islam.

"It really did feel like a liberation until these goons moved in," he said.

"It gave us a taste of what democracy would be like." Sarmad also hoped the Americans would bring modern laboratory equipment. Instead he rarely has enough electricity for the few pieces left after the looting.

For Ahmed, the war only interrupted his work as assistant director in charge of licensing new construction for a month. Since then, he confesses, he hasn't had to do very much work. He used to sign-off 2,000 projects a year. Under the Americans he's only awarded 400 licences.

"No one wants to build a house at the moment. They think it will be blown up if they do," he said.

Since last June, Ahmed said his salary has jumped from $20 a day to $300. But he moaned, "We can't spend the money we're earning at the moment because of the security. That's why I want to see a strong leader in charge again."

As his wife Bam reveals, it's not strictly about spending. Ahmed recently spent $350 on a car, as well as buying a new wardrobe of Turkish clothes.

"I dream about what life would be like outside Iraq," said Bam, who has a 4-year old son and a degree in civil engineering "I want to leave Iraq as soon as possible to live in Dubai. But Ahmed refuses. He says we must stay while Iraq needs him," she said.

Dalal, the mother, is a 51-year-old year schoolmistress at the Baghdad School for Girls. She also instructs new teachers in Western teaching methods

"The girls in my class talk and shout a lot more than they used to. I think its good for them so long as they've all shouting about the same thing," she said.

She added that several of her pupils have been kidnapped for ransom over the past few months. "It's been a tough time, but we'll get by so long as we work together," she said.

For the father Mohammed, a retired brigadier with the Iraqi army, the past year has been spent sitting on his couch watching his new satellite television.

Mohammed retired from the army in 1991, but as a healthy 60- -year-old he said he would be happy to serve in the new Iraqi army

"No one has approached me, so what am I to do?," he asked. "This country has been ruined by the violence. I don't see very much hope for the future"

They said he had not visited his local army recruitment centre yet. "We would like him to get out more," said Dalal.

Dania is the only one in the family who wants the Americans to stay. She has just graduated in computer science and wants to get a job with an American company.

"They pay very well, and are very nice to women. I shall be sad to see them go," she said.

As the family debated the future of Iraq, it does not go unnoticed that under Saddam they would not have been able to talk so freely. But, they say, there is only so much value they can attach to words.

"We love being able to talk. But when are we going to see a democratic government that will give us hope?" asked Sarmad.