Escape from Saddam
Page 28
The irony is not lost on me. The United States and the UK broke international law and came uninvited into my country, yet now they choose to apply the full force of their own laws on me when it comes to the question of my British citizenship and a U.S. visitor’s visa. President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair broke the law and got what they wanted; I broke the law and also got what I wanted—my family out of Iraq. But I stood trial, was humiliated, prosecuted, sentenced, and punished fourfold: I was given a suspended jail sentence, I was denied the opportunity to practice law, I was refused British citizenship, and I was refused a U.S. visa. I don’t see Bush and Blair experiencing the same troubles.
But when you start from the premise that the world is not a fair place, you don’t get too affected by such injustices. I appealed the U.S. government’s decision—I even became something of a cause célèbre. But it was not to be. Back in England I am denied naturalization as a citizen because of my conviction. I can’t help feeling that if the British and American political authorities were totally committed to helping the Iraqi people, they would exercise a little more benevolent judgment in my case. I’m not proud of what I did, but I do think it is worthy of a little understanding.
However, in the grand scale of things, such complaints seem trivial. Iraq remains a war zone. I have no doubt that it will be so for many years. As I write this, my uncle Saad lives in fear for his life. He is under daily threat of mortar attacks; his car has been burned; his business has been destroyed. Now he lives at my grandparents’ house in Al-Mansour, AK-47s at the ready in case he and his family are attacked. Other Sunni men have been abducted and beheaded by Shia bandits. Saad knows that if he is not careful, he could easily become one of their number.
Elsewhere in Iraq, daily civilian casualties can be measured in the hundreds. But whenever I hear the news of another bombing in a mosque or an unspeakable act of sectarian violence, one fact is brought home to me: despite everything—the violence, the fear, and the heartbreak—that I have been through, I now have the privilege of living in a country where my safety, and that of my family, are ensured. My immediate family is with me now, and the feeling that that gives me is indescribable. My mother is a new woman now, and to be able to see my brother and sister again is so wonderful that I still can’t quite believe they are here.*1
There is an old Arabic saying: “Every day of your life is a page of your history.” I am able to look to the future with confidence. I am able to write those pages myself rather than have them written for me by uncaring regimes and circumstances that are unasked for but nevertheless have to be endured.
I am one of the lucky ones.
FOOTNOTES
*1The strain of everything we’d been through led to Rachel and me separating, although she is still a close and valued friend and I will never forget what she did for me and my family. As for my father, I wish I could say that we have reconciled; but at the time of writing this, that has not happened, and I have not spoken to him for several years.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
There are so many people to thank. Barbara Levy, my fabulous literary agent, whose enthusiasm for my story has been unwavering from day one; Doug Young, Deborah Adams, Zoe Hood, Rebecca Jones, Emma Musgrave, Madeline Toy, and all the brilliant team at Transworld, for doing what they do so well; everyone at Crown, especially Julian Pavia and Annsley Rosner, for their hard work on the U.S. edition; and Adam Parfitt, without whose help this book would not have been written. Thanks also to Joanne Adamson, Graham Allen, Tim Bevan, David Bond, Pippa Cross, Nigel Edwards, Eric Fellner, Laurie Fransman, Lex Genn, Nik Goldman, Ana Gonzalez, Paul Greengrass, Kirk Hassig, John Hadity, Theresa Hickey, Tracey Holmes, Dan Hubbard, Nibil Issa, Jan Tun, Christian Johnson, Tim Kent, Richard Lever, Lloyd Levin, Paul Lucas, Terry Newman, Peter Nicholson, Yacine Serir, Raj Sharma, Sean Smith, and Theresa Villers.
To Rachel, for being there. Also to her father.
To all the unknown beacons of light who helped me along my treacherous way.
And finally, to Saad—who was a father to me when I had no father. Thank you for everything.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
LEWIS ALSAMARI was born in Iraq and spent a few years of his childhood in the United Kingdom. He is now an actor best known for his role in Paul Greengrass’s acclaimed film United 93, in which he plays an Al Qaeda hijacker. He now lives in London.
Copyright © 2007 by Lewis Alsamari
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Crown Publishers, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
Crown is a trademark and the Crown colophon is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc.
Originally published in slightly different form in Great Britain as Out of Iraq by Bantam Press, an imprint of Transworld Publishers, a division of The Random House Group Ltd., London, in 2007. This edition published by arrangement with Bantam Press, an imprint of Transworld Publishers, a division of The Random House Group Ltd.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Alsamari, Lewis.
Escape from Saddam: the incredible true story of one man’s journey to freedom / Lewis Alsamari.—1st ed.
1. Alsamari, Lewis. 2. Iraqis—Biography. 3. Refugees—Iraq—Biography. I. Title.
CT1919.I78A47 2008
956.7044092—dc22
[B] 2007032660
eISBN: 978-0-307-40969-0
v3.0