At Arbil that fateful February...

I did a stint in Iraq in 2004 immediately after the Second Gulf War, as a Project Manager for a Telecom Infrastructure company, setting up a fledgling mobile communication network. 

I happened to be in Arbil in Northern Iraq (Kurdistan) when, in a double suicide attack on Eid-ul-zuha day on 2nd Feb 2004, the offices of the two main political parties (Kurdistan Democratic Party and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) were simultaneously attacked by suicide bombers, killing a total of 117 people. The bombers had come to `celebrate' Eid, and blew themselves up as they were embracing/kissing the party chiefs, as is the custom.

I happened to be in the vicinity of the KDP office that day, and saw first hand the devastation that occurred. 57 people died in that office. Since I was with a British engineer, we were mistaken as being part of the BBC crew, and were allowed into the building. The scene was ghastly, and is forever imprinted in memory. The following lines were written that day...

Death, be not proud

That day you came treacherously

Like a traitor, with a Judas kiss

A single death is tragedy

A broken home, a shattered dream

Senses numbed, paralysis….

Fifty seven deaths are a statistic

A news item, a TV report

Political hues, conspiracy…

And yet in this rubble, I see

Scattered among the broken glass

Buried under the falling bricks…

Fifty seven homes destroyed forever

Fifty seven dreams that died still born

Don’t talk of causes, not to me….

Man has learnt to swim like a fish

To fly like a bird, to soar the skies

But when, my Lord, will he ever learn

To walk on earth like a real man….