and independence of thought. Those were the qualities of Tasneen, the only other surviving member of his immediate family. Abdul cherished her deeply. She was not just his older, wiser sister. After the loss of their parents she took on many of their functions.
But Abdul often resented her for those very reasons. The strengths she possessed only highlighted his own weaknesses, revealing them not only to others but to himself. Still, he loved her and remained guided by her but only until, he assured himself, he broke through to true manhood.
Abdul had been born on 23 September 1980, the day after Iraq invaded Iran, in Baghdad’s Yarmuk Hospital, and was brought up in Al Mansour, one of the city’s more affluent districts on the west side of the Tigris river. He was a Sunni Muslim, the same religion as that of his country’s leader, Saddam Hussein, a factor that gave Abdul’s father undeniable advantages in his business dealings at home and abroad. Abdul’s full name, a legacy from twelve successive heads of family, was Abdul-Rahman Marwan Ahmed Mussa Akmed Dawood Sulaiman Abdullah Abdul-Kader Abdul-Latef Abdullah Maath Dulaimy Al Aws.‘Dulaimy’ was the official tribal name since ‘Al Aws’ was the name of one of the two main tribes that the Arabs had divided into around the time of Mohamed, the other main tribe being the Al Kharaj. The Dulaimy tribe originated in Saudi Arabia and during Abdul-Latef ’s reign in the last quarter of the nineteenth century they emigrated to a village called Ana in the open desert region of Al Anbar some four hundred kilometres due west of Baghdad on the Jordan road. Two generations later, Abdul’s several-times-great-grandfather Sulaiman fought against the Turks during the great Arab revolt under the leadership of Prince Feisal with the aid of the famed British soldier, Lawrence of Arabia.
The Sunnis were a minority in modern Iraq at around thirty-five per cent of the population. Take away the Sunni Kurds in the north who constituted some twenty per cent and that left the former ruling class in Iraq now holding a considerably smaller percentage.
Abdul had enjoyed a comfortable upbringing and it was not until his early teens that he began to worry about reaching his eighteenth year, when he would be eligible for military conscription.The very thought filled him with dread. Having a well-connected Sunni father might have held some advantages for him when it came to avoiding the draft but unfortunately for Abdul his father believed military service to be an obligation of every young Iraqi. The Sunni - or, to be more precise, Saddam Hussein’s family and friends - occupied practically every important position in the government and military.Thinking that it might bolster the rather tenuous advantages of the Dulaimy tribe’s somewhat remote connection - Hussein’s tribe were the Tekritis from north of Baghdad - Abdul’s father also regarded his son’s term in the army as a wise and necessary insurance for the boy’s future. But Abdul had nightmares about becoming a soldier and the closer that day came the greater grew his desperation to find a way of avoiding it, without attracting scorn from his father. In fact, Abdul was unlikely to be able to avoid his sire’s disdain. But he still preferred parental abuse to three years under arms.
His first and most simple plan to delay conscription was to enrol in a university and embark on a long and difficult degree course. He chose computer technology, normally a four-year programme. But, even so, after it he would still have to join the army. His second delaying tactic was to drag out the degree course for as long as he could by failing examinations. There was a limit to how long Abdul could use this technique and by year six his father began to suspect his son’s plot. He warned Abdul that if his next results were not a satisfactory pass he would take him out of university and enrol him in the army himself. Abdul did not take his
But Abdul often resented her for those very reasons. The strengths she possessed only highlighted his own weaknesses, revealing them not only to others but to himself. Still, he loved her and remained guided by her but only until, he assured himself, he broke through to true manhood.
Abdul had been born on 23 September 1980, the day after Iraq invaded Iran, in Baghdad’s Yarmuk Hospital, and was brought up in Al Mansour, one of the city’s more affluent districts on the west side of the Tigris river. He was a Sunni Muslim, the same religion as that of his country’s leader, Saddam Hussein, a factor that gave Abdul’s father undeniable advantages in his business dealings at home and abroad. Abdul’s full name, a legacy from twelve successive heads of family, was Abdul-Rahman Marwan Ahmed Mussa Akmed Dawood Sulaiman Abdullah Abdul-Kader Abdul-Latef Abdullah Maath Dulaimy Al Aws.‘Dulaimy’ was the official tribal name since ‘Al Aws’ was the name of one of the two main tribes that the Arabs had divided into around the time of Mohamed, the other main tribe being the Al Kharaj. The Dulaimy tribe originated in Saudi Arabia and during Abdul-Latef ’s reign in the last quarter of the nineteenth century they emigrated to a village called Ana in the open desert region of Al Anbar some four hundred kilometres due west of Baghdad on the Jordan road. Two generations later, Abdul’s several-times-great-grandfather Sulaiman fought against the Turks during the great Arab revolt under the leadership of Prince Feisal with the aid of the famed British soldier, Lawrence of Arabia.
The Sunnis were a minority in modern Iraq at around thirty-five per cent of the population. Take away the Sunni Kurds in the north who constituted some twenty per cent and that left the former ruling class in Iraq now holding a considerably smaller percentage.
Abdul had enjoyed a comfortable upbringing and it was not until his early teens that he began to worry about reaching his eighteenth year, when he would be eligible for military conscription.The very thought filled him with dread. Having a well-connected Sunni father might have held some advantages for him when it came to avoiding the draft but unfortunately for Abdul his father believed military service to be an obligation of every young Iraqi. The Sunni - or, to be more precise, Saddam Hussein’s family and friends - occupied practically every important position in the government and military.Thinking that it might bolster the rather tenuous advantages of the Dulaimy tribe’s somewhat remote connection - Hussein’s tribe were the Tekritis from north of Baghdad - Abdul’s father also regarded his son’s term in the army as a wise and necessary insurance for the boy’s future. But Abdul had nightmares about becoming a soldier and the closer that day came the greater grew his desperation to find a way of avoiding it, without attracting scorn from his father. In fact, Abdul was unlikely to be able to avoid his sire’s disdain. But he still preferred parental abuse to three years under arms.
His first and most simple plan to delay conscription was to enrol in a university and embark on a long and difficult degree course. He chose computer technology, normally a four-year programme. But, even so, after it he would still have to join the army. His second delaying tactic was to drag out the degree course for as long as he could by failing examinations. There was a limit to how long Abdul could use this technique and by year six his father began to suspect his son’s plot. He warned Abdul that if his next results were not a satisfactory pass he would take him out of university and enrol him in the army himself. Abdul did not take his
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