This column was written by SPC Richard Murphy for The GW Hatchet, a student newspaper at George Washington University, where SPC Murphy was a law student before deploying to Iraq.
By Rich Murphy
Thursday, March 25, 2004
ABU GHRAIB, IRAQ
My 11 months in Iraq have taught me that courage is a relative thing, relative to situation and circumstance. In America, courage comes easy. Just flip through the channels and you'll likely catch canned human drama and death-defying bravery on one of the myriad "reality" TV shows. Or read the newspapers. A politician taking an unpopular stand on an issue might be called courageous for simply voting his conscience.
What are the repercussions for such bold heroism? A "Survivor" contestant might be voted off the island, while a politician could be voted out of office. For Iraqis, heroic behavior can get you killed.
"There is a saying in Iraq: 'Iraqis don't open their mouths, not even at the dentist,'" said Akram Ali Hussein, a translator with my military police company at Abu Ghraib prison. "During Saddam's rule, and even now, political dissidents face torture, maiming and death."
Faced with torture, maiming and death, Akram has never kept his mouth shut. He is the most courageous person I have ever known.
In the spring of 1986, just two months from receiving his degree in English literature from Baghdad University, Saddam's secret police charged Akram with subversion. They accused the 24-year-old of membership in Al Dawa, a prominent Shiite Muslim political party that agitated against Iraq's war with Iran, a Shiite state.
"I was not a member of Al Dawa," Akram said, raising an eyebrow and breaking into a coy smile. "But I wished I was. It was an honor to be considered in (Al Dawa's) company."
Akram spoke out against Saddam's American-sponsored war with Iran from the first moment he stepped on Baghdad University's campus at age 18 to the time of his arrest.
"I told my friends and classmates not to serve in the Iraqi Army," Akram said. "Saddam had no right to invade a fellow Muslim nation. The West had inflated Saddam, just like a balloon."
Akram knew well the penalty paid for subversive political speech, but he spoke out anyway.
"It was the right thing to do. I was not afraid," Akram said.
The secret court sentenced Akram to seven years' incarceration at Abu Ghraib prison. He believes a Kurdish spy reported his activities to Saddam's security forces. During the Iraq-Iran War, many Shiite Kurds were forced to choose between spying for Saddam and deportation to Iran.
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