Bashir, Ala, The Insider, Trapped In Saddam’s Brutal Regime, Abacus, 2005
Ala Bashir was a leading plastic surgeon in Iraq. The Insider, Trapped In Saddam’s Brutal Regime is his autobiography telling his life from the time of the monarchy until the 2003 invasion. Most of it is about how he survived under Saddam Hussein.
The start of the book sets the stage for the later chapters as Bashir goes over the history of political violence in Iraq. In 1958 the monarchy was overthrown in a military coup. Not only was the family executed but the Regent and the Prime Minister had their bodies dragged through the streets by a mob. In 1963 General Qasim who overthrew the king was shot in another take over. Afterwards thousands of Communists were executed by the Baath Party who now ran the country. That all foreshadowed life under Saddam where countless friends and officials the author knew were executed. The country went from where the elite could be killed to everyday Iraqis became victims. Bashir was able to survive because he knew what not to say and was favored by Saddam for his medical career and his artwork.
Bashir’s first complaint about Saddam’s regime was the role of the Baath Party, cronies and relatives. At first the Party replaced competent people with apparatchiks. Then as Saddam solidified his control he gave his relatives and people from his home area of Tikrit top jobs. Most of these figures had little qualifications. Bashir said Saddam’s number two Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri probably never read a book beside the Quran. His cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid who became known as Chemical Ali for WMD attacks upon the Kurds in the 1980s was a motorcycle messenger in the army. At the end Saddam even realized what a dysfunctional system he had created but said he couldn’t change it because it was better to know a villain that ran a part of the government then a stranger.
Most of the chapters on Saddam’s rule is full of stories of how people ran afoul of the authorities. During the Iran-Iraq War an old friend who was a professor at Baghdad University asked for an exemption to join the army. He was relieved of his job and sent to the front. Culture Minister Shafiq al-Kamali was a founding member of the Iraqi Baath Party. One day he asked whether it was right to torture the fathers and brothers of people who were wanted because it hurt the image of the party. As a result Kamali was arrested and thrown in prison for months. Health Minister Riyad Ibrahim refused to send a veterinarian to the United States in 1983 to learn about poison prevention and was removed and imprisoned. Saddam’s family was not exempt. His wife’s brother Luai Khariallah beat a professor after he failed a class at Baghdad University. When Saddam heard he had Luai’s arm broken in the same place. The tales are endless of how saying the wrong thing could get you arrested or killed. Public workers and officials always operated under this threat and had to constantly monitor their actions.
Another complaint Bashir had about Saddam was all the corruption that flourished. When the United Nations started the Oil for Food program which allowed products into the country during the sanctions officials charged commissions on every purchase made. Bashir recounts how hospitals suddenly started ordering all kinds of high end equipment like CT and MRI scanners. That was because they cost a lot which meant officials could charge a larger fee to have them bought for Iraq. The problem was Iraq didn’t have the trained personnel to use any of these because they’d been cut off from the world since the 1990 invasion of Kuwait and they sat idle in facilities.
As the title suggests Ali Bashir gave an insiders’ view of what it was like for him to live under Saddam Hussein. He was fortunate to be a top doctor in Iraq so he got to know the dictator and win his favor. At the same time that meant greater danger because he was always interacting with Saddam, his family and government officials who could get him killed at any time. One day the dictator is complimenting him on his sculptures and the next Uday Hussein is demanding that Bashir give up the elevator in his hospital or suffer the consequences. Those stories are what carry the book and make it worthwhile to read.
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