Bassem Mroue

"Peace be upon the people of peace," were the first words Saddam Hussein spelled as he walked into the court room in Baghdad's Green Zone in the second session of his trial over the killing of 148 Shiite Muslims in a town north of Baghdad. Although his seven co-defendants appeared tired and nervous, he was the only one wearing a western suite and looking strong. Like the first session on October 19, 2005, when Saddam began his statements with an argument with chief judge about who chose him to head this court and refused to identify himself saying there isn't a person in Iraq who doesn't know him, the former president complained that he was brought into the court building Monday hand cuffed and in shackles. The bearded Saddam also complained that the elevator was not working and had to walk up the stairs. This is Saddam Hussein, who until April 9, 2003, the day he was removed from power by a U.S.-led no Iraqi dared to refer to him but as "Mr. President Saddam...

I was nine years old in 1977 when my mother took me and my elder brother, Hassan, to watch a movie that everybody in town was talking about. "Al-Risala" or "The Message," the movie that tells the story of Islam. We went to the newly-opened Monte Carlo cinema in Beirut's Hamra street where we saw the three-hour movie and I loved it so much that I watched it several times afterward. That day I not only saw the movie but discovered during the intermission something that I have never seen in my life before. I went into the W.C. and after washing my hands couldn't find napkins to dry my hands. Instead I saw people drying their hands with a machine that blows hot air. It was the first time I used a hand dryer. A week later I heard that my aunt and cousin were going to watch Al-Risala so I imposed myself on them and watched it again. Years later I saw the English version of the movie that was starred by Anthony Quinn and Irene Papas. The movie was the work of famou...

It was 8:15 a.m. on Friday Nov. 18, when I was woken up by a strong boom. Seconds later another explosion reverberated. I stayed in bed and convinced myself that they were two mortar rounds that are common in Baghdad. I went to bed too late the night before. At about 9:30 a.m. I was out and the moment I saw a colleague of mine I told him, hopefully it will be a quiet day. "What?" he answered. "There had already been two large explosions." Hardly a day passes in this country without an explosion or shooting that kill or wound a number of people. The target Friday was a Baghdad hotel used by foreign journalists. A security camera showed how the events went. A car passes through a street leading to the Hamra hotel then gets close to the blast wall surrounding the it. Seconds later, the suicide attacker driving the car detonates the vehicle. A man who happened to be passing in the street looked at the car as it crossed him. He was for sure killed in the blast for he was...

It was Saturday Nov. 5, 2005 and I was getting ready to go to the airport on my 11th trip to Iraq in the past three years. Packed and ready to go, Hussein picked me up and drove south toward Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport. I walk inside and take a look. Ohhhhh nooooooooo. It is packed with hundreds of people who spent Eid al-Fitr that marks the end of Ramadan in Beirut and were heading back now. Took my boarding pass half an hour later and waited for MEA's flight to Amman. Some 45 minutes later we land in the Jordanian capital and Mohammed is waiting for me. During the 30-minute trip from the airport to the hotel, Mohammed, a chain smoker, burnt at least three cigarettes. As I walk in the man on the front desk looks at me with a big fake smile on his face. "Welcome. Hope you had a good trip." I reply with a smile and give him my passport. The man types on the keyboard, then look at me and say: "This is the 10th time you stay at our hotel. I will give...

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