A Survivor, Its Caretaker, and Hope

Baghdad: Saad Eskander, director of the Iraqi
National Library and Archives, has one hell
of a job ahead of him. He has seen thousands of his
country's treasures and archives destroyed, his
library taken over by the newly-formed Iraqi
National Guard. They destroyed doors, windows,
and gates. Then they left...last Friday. He was
interviewed about these events, and how he was
able to keep the library open over the past 4
years, all the while rebuilding, by Folha de
S. Paulo.

The picture to the right says a bunch about the state of things in the Baghdad headquarters of the Iraqi library system. Eskander, who was not at the library when it was taken over by the military for 4 days, has seen a lot. Throughout the interview, he stresses his disappointment with the present government, and a serious need for compromise. The library, which has been assisted by the Japanese and Italian governments, was the most damaged government institution in the country: it lost 60% of all its documents, and 25% of all books, a devastating tragedy that has gotten lost in all the human carnage. This is all the more sad since the building sits 20 meters from a joint American-Iraqi military base. When asked how the library could have been so damaged, he responded: "I just don't think it is important to them." When he went to the American and Iraqi military for help, they simply didn't respond.

The article is not cynical, however. Eskander refers to the Brazilian coach of the Iraqi National Soccer team, Jovan Vieira, who led the team to victory in the Asia Cup. As he notes, the team is mad up of Iraqis of all sects: Kurds, Sunnis, Shiites. He noted that all Iraqis like Vieira...he is "the most popular figure in Iraq." That is significant, and he remarks that, for their country, the team worked together to win a huge upset. The one thing that unites Iraqis, according to the director, is soccer.

He finally notes that he does have more liberty of expression, and that he has already used that to criticize the Minister of Defense: his statements were published. His library still needs lots of help, and the road back to the 250 visitors a day he had before the war is a long one. when asked which leader he would look to for inspiration to finding a way to end the war, he responded: " Probably Gandhi...he was a genius, who kicked out the British, established a republic, a democratic system, a federalist system that united different ethnic groups and languages in one country. I hope that our leaders read about peace and compromise."

A great idea from a man in the midst of a country torn apart be bad ones.