I recently again bumped into Ilhan, a Turk, at a reception at the Turkish Consulate. Ilhan, for those who may not remember was one of those foreigners offering his views on the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks on the WTC.
Querying him for any added perspective on the events taking place on the world stage, Ilhan smiled wanly and replied, "Immoral War."
A simple man who makes a living here in Jeddah by re-finishing upholstery, Ilhan was yet again a man with a few words. Embarrassed as he was by his command of English, he did admit that in Turkey he thought of himself as a frustrated philosopher. He wanted to help though and he introduced me to Kemal, a middle-aged man dressed somewhat sloppily in a suit, an attire that was quickly explained when he announced his profession as an analytical engineer.
During the course of that pleasant evening, Kemal was more forthcoming on his reflections and this is what he had to say: "As I grew older I thought I would get wiser and that the world would make more sense. Seventeen years in this land, wife and kids, and a good job, yet almost everything is blurry. ‘Bombing should stop during Ramadan‚’ as if it is okay to kill someone, anyone at other times!
"I work in a consultancy. We collect data and try to forecast the future. Market shares, life expectancies, public opinion alike. You can imagine our frustration when we were asked to predict what would happen in the Near East in the near future.
The data collection phase was the most horrific: A number of food packages burned with hatred for US versus a number of unexploded bombs mistook for food packages. Percent of civilian deaths correlated to public approval ratings of the US president, probabilities and combinations of possible political moves, expected natural and unnatural catastrophes.
"The client is a close friend. I knew how ridiculous the whole idea was but he insisted that we continue, with mathematics, with statistics and other scientific tools. The project is still going on. So is the frustration. We submitted the initial findings to the client:
"In the near future the Taleban will ask for the stopping of the bombing for two weeks. Surprisingly they are granted just that. During these two weeks almost all civilians move out of Afghanistan. Then months of bombing, more bombing, several land operations, losses of thousands from all sides, mostly Muslims as usual. The Taleban are killed with the guns in their hands, and become a Muslim-folk heroes. Bin Laden yet to be found.
"Afghanistan is divided. The issue is presented at the UN in simple words: ‘Well they always fight with each other so let them all have their own land. North to Northern Alliance, west to Iran, and the rest to Pakistan.’
"Pakistan is given a huge loan and India is promised more green cards for its computer science graduates. As per the whispered advice of Britain the Kashmir issue remains unsolved so that it can be used in the future conflicts.
"The Afghanis who found refuge in neighboring countries suffer. The younger generation: A: Grow up with hatred and become better terrorists; B: Live a decent life and marry a foreigner, or C: Study nuclear physics in North Korean universities.
"The report went on for two hundred plus pages. The client wasn’t impressed with the outcome and said it sounded like a Greek tragedy. Furthermore he refused to pay me for what he rejected as gibberish.
"Brazil lost to Bolivia three to one. I don’t know if they will make it to the World Cup in 2002. Philip Scholari was a close friend when he was in Jeddah coaching Al Ahli. He looked older and confused. A group of elementary school children in Holland sold cookies all year to collect enough money to build a school destroyed by the earthquake in Turkey. Now that is good news."
That finally brought a smile to Kemal’s cherubic face. His world, closing in on him with increasing madness, he desperately clung on to the few scattered good deeds of compassion in the hope that mankind would not be foolishly led into Armageddon.
— Tariq A. Al-Maeena, [email protected]