The Amariyah Bomb Shelter has been turned into a memorial as part of the remembrance and healing of that horrible event. Pictures of the victims line the walls like pictures at an exhibition. Some are photographs or copies of old photos, while others are only drawings of the victims when there were no available photos. It was important that all the people be represented, even if only by a sketch.

      There was a conspicuous absence of men’s pictures. Our interpreter told us the men of the community, wanting to make room for more women and children, had given up their spaces in the shelter to protect them. It’s ironic that hoping to protect them, they actually sealed their fate. Little could they have known what would transpire that day. Most people who know what happened at Amariyah say they will never go inside a bomb shelter again during an attack. They would rather take their chances outside.

      Looking at these pictures of the victims reminded me that they were not nameless faces or just statistics, but people who had aspirations, hopes and fears just as I do. The difference is, they were caught in the middle of a power play between a world power wanting to control and a ruthless dictator seeking sovereignty.

CSpaulding
February, 2003