Read Online Code Name: Johnny Walker: The Extraordinary Story of the Iraqi Who Risked Everything to Fight with the U.S. Navy SEALs by Jim DeFelice, Johnny Walker - Free Book Online
Authors: Jim DeFelice, Johnny Walker
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his tribe and people from the region where he was born, Tikrit, who were also predominantly Sunni.
Many Shia believed that the dictator strongly discriminated against them on the basis of religion, and with good reason. Though Shiites were the majority in the country, most of the better government jobs went to Sunni Muslims—more precisely, to Sunnis who were related to Saddam, members of his tribe, or otherwise somehow connected to him, even if only in a distant way. And being a member of the party was essential, at even the lowest level.
In other words, Shia were discriminated against, but so were Sunnis like myself who had no connection with Saddam or his tribe.
Mosul at the time of 9/11 was about 90 percent Sunni; the rest of the people were mostly Shia, with a small community of Christians. (The few Christians I knew in those days were among the most peaceful people I have ever met.)
As I mentioned earlier, there was very little religious animosity between the different branches of Islam when I was young. Even during the Iran-Iraq war, when our enemy was a nation ruled by Shiites, attitudes were not very extreme. For most people, religion was a family matter, private, and not something that the person had much choice in anyway—they followed their parents, as was their duty. At least as I remember it, religion was never an issue for fighting.
One of my best friends growing up was a Christian. There was no religious pressure on him to convert. Nor did he suffer from more discrimination than the rest of us.
For myself, the distinctions are not very important. I have my own relationship with God, and I understand how I should act and behave.
As for our children, when they were small, my kids didn’t even know there was a difference. In 2003, as the fighting among Iraqis intensified along religious lines, Soheila and I gathered our children in a room.
“Okay, guys,” I told them after we explained a little about our faith and beliefs. “Who’s going to be Shia and who’s going to be Sunni?”
All of them chose Shia. A disappointment maybe for me.
More seriously, I feel that when they are each old enough, they will make their own decision about how to honor God and live correctly. Religion is a choice. Whatever you want, whatever you believe, that is what you should follow. Who am I to impose my faith and religion on others, even my children?
SADDAM’S ATTEMPTS AT drumming up support by using religion after 9/11 mostly failed. But it was more dangerous than ever to talk against him, even with family and friends—you could never tell who might say something about you, either directly to the authorities or to someone who would go to them. Being critical of Saddam had always been forbidden, but now saying anything derogatory about Iraq could also land you in trouble. I heard a story about a man jailed for proclaiming that the French would win a soccer match against Iraq. Whether the story is true or not, I have no idea, but it shows the level of paranoia in the country as we came closer to war in 2002.
We all knew it was coming. The United Nations demanded to be allowed to inspect Iraqi facilities involved in the construction of atomic weapons. Saddam wouldn’t let them. Some of us thought Saddam was hoping to use the conflict to divert people’s attention from the fact that people were starving. But the only thing that would have diverted attention from that would have been full bellies.
Things became steadily worse as 2002 turned to 2003. The country slid further into a black hole. Knowing war was inevitable, Soheila and I began stocking up on as much food as we could. We put away rice and canned soup. We had small freezers where we stocked meat. We stockpiled water. We stacked whatever we could in our small apartment, knowing there would soon be shortages. We had lived through two wars already, so we had a rough idea of what might happen.
We were no longer daring to dream. We were simply hoping to
Many Shia believed that the dictator strongly discriminated against them on the basis of religion, and with good reason. Though Shiites were the majority in the country, most of the better government jobs went to Sunni Muslims—more precisely, to Sunnis who were related to Saddam, members of his tribe, or otherwise somehow connected to him, even if only in a distant way. And being a member of the party was essential, at even the lowest level.
In other words, Shia were discriminated against, but so were Sunnis like myself who had no connection with Saddam or his tribe.
Mosul at the time of 9/11 was about 90 percent Sunni; the rest of the people were mostly Shia, with a small community of Christians. (The few Christians I knew in those days were among the most peaceful people I have ever met.)
As I mentioned earlier, there was very little religious animosity between the different branches of Islam when I was young. Even during the Iran-Iraq war, when our enemy was a nation ruled by Shiites, attitudes were not very extreme. For most people, religion was a family matter, private, and not something that the person had much choice in anyway—they followed their parents, as was their duty. At least as I remember it, religion was never an issue for fighting.
One of my best friends growing up was a Christian. There was no religious pressure on him to convert. Nor did he suffer from more discrimination than the rest of us.
For myself, the distinctions are not very important. I have my own relationship with God, and I understand how I should act and behave.
As for our children, when they were small, my kids didn’t even know there was a difference. In 2003, as the fighting among Iraqis intensified along religious lines, Soheila and I gathered our children in a room.
“Okay, guys,” I told them after we explained a little about our faith and beliefs. “Who’s going to be Shia and who’s going to be Sunni?”
All of them chose Shia. A disappointment maybe for me.
More seriously, I feel that when they are each old enough, they will make their own decision about how to honor God and live correctly. Religion is a choice. Whatever you want, whatever you believe, that is what you should follow. Who am I to impose my faith and religion on others, even my children?
SADDAM’S ATTEMPTS AT drumming up support by using religion after 9/11 mostly failed. But it was more dangerous than ever to talk against him, even with family and friends—you could never tell who might say something about you, either directly to the authorities or to someone who would go to them. Being critical of Saddam had always been forbidden, but now saying anything derogatory about Iraq could also land you in trouble. I heard a story about a man jailed for proclaiming that the French would win a soccer match against Iraq. Whether the story is true or not, I have no idea, but it shows the level of paranoia in the country as we came closer to war in 2002.
We all knew it was coming. The United Nations demanded to be allowed to inspect Iraqi facilities involved in the construction of atomic weapons. Saddam wouldn’t let them. Some of us thought Saddam was hoping to use the conflict to divert people’s attention from the fact that people were starving. But the only thing that would have diverted attention from that would have been full bellies.
Things became steadily worse as 2002 turned to 2003. The country slid further into a black hole. Knowing war was inevitable, Soheila and I began stocking up on as much food as we could. We put away rice and canned soup. We had small freezers where we stocked meat. We stockpiled water. We stacked whatever we could in our small apartment, knowing there would soon be shortages. We had lived through two wars already, so we had a rough idea of what might happen.
We were no longer daring to dream. We were simply hoping to
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