Baghdad-London

TWO CITIES

Malcom Lagauche

London in chaos and flames from invading forces in Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds June 1, 2010 In 1973, my wife and I visited London on our honeymoon. The city intrigued us for many reasons. But, we only spent a month in Great Britain before returning to the U.S. After we returned to Rhode Island, something became apparent to us that we never experienced before. London was special and we couldn’t forget the city. In 1975, we moved to London and lived there for six years. Before I moved to London, I had been to many major U.S. cities: New York, Boston, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Chicago, Atlanta and others. They were interesting to visit, but none was London. One can not achieve the totality of any city within a month’s visit. It takes much longer and the person must live among the Londoners, not just be a visitor. In our first year in London, we learned much. We saw scenes of happiness among the people. It was so different for us to see the morning crowd of kids walking to their schools. Many had school uniforms and they all looked quite happy, despite their having to spend the next few hours in a classroom. Scenes like this are rare in the U.S. Most kids go to school by bus or are driven by relatives or friends. We never saw the swarms of kids walking to school that London produced. The great public transportation system was another highlight. There was no place in London where one was not within walking distance of a bus stop, train station, or underground station. All the various methods of transportation were linked so that one could go to any area of London and not be far from his/her destination. After a year, the culture shock had worn off and my wife and I had new British friends. I became involved in baseball and basketball promotion, so I visited many areas of Greater London. During these travels, I noticed the uniqueness of areas that was lacking in the U.S. Sure, many U.S. cities have a Chinatown or another area that is inhabited by people who originated from countries outside the U.S. But, they were not as deeply rooted as the various parts of London. Plus, I once read that there are 50 distinct accents of the English language in London alone. After a while, one can almost tell where a person lives and his/her place in the class structure of Britain just by the accent used. One thing that was very interesting is the affinity that Londoners had for their city, regardless of their politics, religion or lack of, class, and style of dress. If the English national football team was playing at Wembley Stadium, you could always count on a sellout crowd of close to 100,000 people. Working class mingled with the upper class. They looked different from each other and surely cast their ballots for different candidates in elections, but they cheered for the same team. In 1947, Hubert Gregg, from the Islington area of London composed the song, "Maybe It’s Because I’m a Londoner." It quickly became an anthem. During my stay in London, I must have heard the song hundreds of times. You hear it in pubs, schools, clubs, anywhere one can break out in song. And, whether working class, middle class, or upper class, Brits always took advantage of making an excuse to sing the song. The lyrics are short and poignant. Only the people singing it can choose how many times they want to repeat the verses: Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner That I love London so Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner That I think of her wherever I go I get a funny feeling inside of me When walking up and down Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner That I love London Town I moved from London to The Netherlands in September 1980 to pursue a baseball coaching career in the Dutch major league. I spent two years in The Netherlands and became burned out on baseball. Since the age of eight, I was addicted. Finally, after 26 years, I kicked the habit. My next move was to San Diego in the U.S. Because of changing countries three times in a few years, it took a little while for me to re-gain my adoration for London. But, today I consider the six years I lived there to be the finest of my life in many ways. I learned much and began to look at the world through different eyes. When I returned to the U.S., I realized that my new view of the world did not necessarily fit in with the citizenry. Most U.S. citizens have never traveled outside their own country and they would tell me that they were proud of that fact. To them, living in another country was tantamount to being a traitor. So, where is all this talk of London taking me? I do have a point to make. A few days ago, the website www.uruknet.info ran a piece that showed dozens of pictures of Baghdad prior to the March 2003 invasion. I saw all the kids going to school with smiles on their faces. I saw street vendors. I saw buildings that were hundreds of years old and I saw modern buildings. I saw parks. And, I saw a great diversity of clothing worn by the Baghdad residents. I saw London all over again. The signs were in a different language and the clothing styles varied from those of Londoners. But, I saw Baghdad as a special city: one that the people adored, regardless of background. Today’s Baghdad is far different. A couple of days ago, a major study called Baghdad the most violent city in the world. That is no designation to be proud of. Just a couple of decades ago, Western press called Baghdad the "Paris of the Middle East." Now, it’s nothing more than a sewage-ridden city with people begging for water and food. They are imprisoned behind concrete walls that separate neighborhoods. If they wear the wrong clothes, they may be shot. In 2006, the entire Iraqi national tennis team was shot to death on a street in Baghdad for wearing shorts. The once Paris of the Middle East is now the shithole of the world. Despite all this, the quisling government in the Green Zone and the U.S. administration are speaking of the great success of the new "democratic Iraq." Unfortunately, the brain-dead public of the U.S. has been manipulated enough to believe it. If you take a look at some obese person, swilling his beer while watching his favorite football team on TV, all the time farting and bragging about how loud he can perform the feat, he will tell you about the great successes in Iraq. Let’s turn the situation around and compare the fate of Baghdad and if a similar destruction of London occurred. The new London would have many warning signs erected in a language they did not understand. Each unique section would be walled off from the rest of London. If a person in Chelsea wanted to visit a relative in nearby Richmond, it would take all day just to make the trip, all the time having the traveler’s eyes scanned to see if his/her irises matched those on record of the authorities. This few-mile journey would include several checkpoints. Wembley Stadium would be in ruins. The national English football team would be massacred because they wore shorts. Southall, an area populated by many Indians and Pakistanis would be shut completely off from the rest of London. No longer would the vendors be able to show their goods on the street and no longer would a visitor be able to smell the fragrance of the smells coming from the fruit or spice stands erected on the street. Plus, all Hindus, or Muslims would be terrified to leave their houses because the new rulers would have designated England to be an official country of one religion only. Earl’s Court, an area in which many gays live and socialize would be leveled and the population would be hunted down and killed for its sexual orientation. The River Thames would be so polluted that health of people living nearby would be threatened. Big Ben would be a pile of rubble. Pubs would be shut down and anyone seen drinking alcohol would be subject to torture or death. In 1978, Jeff Wayne released an album called "War of the Worlds." It was based on the same story broadcast in the U.S. in 1938 in which Martians invade Earth and destroy everything in their way. Jeff Wayne’s version is about London, however, not New Jersey, the location mentioned in the first War of the Worlds broadcast. The album is a mixture of narration, music, and illustrations. The destruction of the Houses of Parliament is depicted, as well as the blowing up of all the bridges that cross the River Thames. People have no food and they panic. Much of Jeff Wayne’s rendition is eerily similar to the March 2003 invasion and ensuing destruction of Baghdad by Western forces. There sre fire and explosions. The public panics and has no where to escape. I would recommend anyone who has not heard Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds to obtain at least some of the portions of the production and listen to how London was ravaged and burnt just the way Baghdad was. However, Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds is fiction. Baghdad’s destruction is not. London is still London. Baghdad is no longer Baghdad. I only wish British people, or anyone who has visited London, put themselves in the shoes of the people of Baghdad today. They would not be able to envision such a destroyed and walled London. The sad part of all this is that it was a Brit, living in London at the time, Tony Blair, who so readily offered military activity to destroy Baghdad. And, he was proud of his actions, according to recent statements by him. The people like Blair, Bush and all those politicians who supported the invasion of Iraq are nothing better than filth. Yet they were the ones who called for Baghdad’s demise. While Iraqis are scrambling for a liter of non-toxic drinking water, the architects of the March 2003 invasion are bragging about their accomplishments over cocktails and some phony party held in honor of the great strength of the U.S. It is amazing how blind most of the human race is.