War, on Drugs

Via an excellent Kos diary entry by ObWi constant reader wilfred
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'll post a good chunk of it here, but there's more at Kos:

Today I got home early and flipped on the tube. Oprah was on and her show is about being 30 years old in different countries around the world. A very cool idea and well done to boot. When it came time for the 30 year old from Iraq, things took a turn.

The woman spoke of things being worse since the Occupation. She said there was no electricity, no water and women were being raped left and right and lived in constant fear for their lives. Oprah said "I thought things were much better", and was surprised to learn that it is much worse than when Saddam was in power (the woman's brother and father were killed under Saddam). She now owns a rifle and said women now stay home for days at a time out of fear for their lives.

THEN came the kicker. She said women in Iraq are now becoming terribly addicted to Valium. She said Valium costs about 20 CENTS a BOTTLE and NO prescription is required and women now get a bottle of Valium when they go out to get a bottle of water. She said you now see women and they are in a total daze as they can't deal with the extreme heat and the extreme and unrelenting fear. Oprah (and the audience) were absolutely shocked at what they were hearing.

Add to this, the story in the Guardian from 2002:

American military chiefs are developing plans to use Valium as a potential weapon against enemy forces and to control hostile populations, according to official documents seen by The Observer.

And it begins to smell suspiciously intentional.

Doped up zombie voters don't exactly equal mission accomplished.

Comments

[Tacitus]

Riverbend was on Oprah?

[Edward]

Riverbend was on Oprah?

do you suspect this is bogus?

[Tacitus]

Just the "intentional" part.

[Jesurgislac]

Why is Valium so cheap (and so widely available) in Iraq? And was it as cheap/widely available before the US invasion/occupation?

[Moe Lane]

"do you suspect this is bogus?"

Dunno about Tac, but I'd like to see some verification on this.

[Moe Lane]

Jes, in December 2003 it was apparently going for $1.12 a tablet. I'm willing to believe that we've set up a drug subsidy program since then, but I believe the question is still "Is Valium so cheap (and so widely available) in Iraq?"

[Jadegold]

This is not an uncommon phenomenon in war-ravaged areas. Particularly in areas of insurgency and frequent terrorism, drug abuse is fairly common as a coping remedy.

Northern Ireland, at the height of 'the troubles', had epidemic rates of drug abuse.

[Catsy]

I'd like more information too. Who was this Iraqi woman, and how was she selected and/or put in contact with Oprah's show? Who was the point of contact? Things like that would be a good start for determining how credible she is.

As far as the credibility of the valium part... at first blush, it rings true to me. Not because of any kind of predisposed opinion on it, but because it seems like such an /odd/ thing to lie about. If you're going to go on national TV to try and discredit the occupation, why valium? Why this story? It doesn't strike me as the sort of thing that'd be /useful/ to lie about.

More information, please.

[Jesurgislac]

Jadegold: This is not an uncommon phenomenon in war-ravaged areas. Particularly in areas of insurgency and frequent terrorism, drug abuse is fairly common as a coping remedy.

Precisely.

If it can be shown that the cost of Valium in Iraq has gone down (and it has become more widely available) since the US occupation, that suggests the possibility that it's a deliberate attempt to drug the Iraqi populace into insensibility: OTOH, it could just be market forces responding to increased demand for the obvious reasons. (More investigation would be required. It's possible, that's all.)

If neither price nor availability has changed greatly over the past 12-24 months, it's just that where it is available, Iraqi women who can afford it are taking more of it, then the whole theory necessarily collapses.

(Hence my question, Moe.)

[Jadegold]

BTW, it has been alleged--repeat, alleged---the UK dumped antidepressants into Northern Ireland during the peak years of the fighting as part of a strategy of pacification. I'm trying to find a link but several US activists were expelled from Northern Ireland for making these charges.

[Edward]

The "theory" is out there, I'll grant you, but what about the Guardian story?

I can imagine someone who read that story and then noticed anecdotal evidence of increased abuse among Iraqi women put two and two together and convinced herself there was a wider problem than there actually is, but conspiracy or not, as addictive as Valium is, I hope our recontruction efforst include some sort of drug rehab programming.

[Moe Lane]

"(Hence my question, Moe.)"

Ah. Understanding has descended upon me.

[DaveC]

I saw Riverbend mentioned and you know I wonder why aren't Alaa, Zeyad, Sam, Omar and brothers, etc. on anybody's blog roll here.

I think that reading Iraqi blogs is quite instructive.

[Slartibartfast]

It's because Riverbend speaks truth to power, while the others are paid lackeys of the administration.

That's my guess, anyway.

[kenB]

AFAICT, Riverbend isn't on anyone's blogroll here either...

[wilfred]

thanks edward for the nice words.

For those who want more info and quotes on the women, go to the Kos link provided by edward and scroll down about 1/3 of the way. you will see 2 large pictures in a row of the 2 women from the profile, with links for more info.

The woman who was with Oprah was Zianab Salbi, founder of Women for Women International, an organization that helps women around the world who have survived the atrocities of war. It will only take a second and you can see them and read their words and follow any links.

And a special thanks to Tacitus for the erroneous assumption about Riverbend. No, Sabah the writer is not Riverbend. Believe it or not, there are more women's stories in Iraq than hers, valuable though it is.

[Moe Lane]

Geez, guys, I'm sorry that the Iraqi blogs are on the right-hand side of the page, but I ran out of bloody room.

[Slartibartfast]

Sorry, Moe. Caffeine still hasn't taken hold yet. I'm afraid that it's never going to, today.

[Edward]

From the Oprah Website (via Kos link above):

What is it like being a 30-year-old living in a war zone? Sabah, a writer living in Baghdad, has lived through three wars and the death of her father and brother under Saddam Hussein's regime. She says the situation for women in Iraq has never been worse than it is now.

"I mean, welcome to the real world," she says. "For me, as an Iraqi woman, I don't feel safe. Anyone can attack me. Anyone can rape me. Anyone can even kill me, you know? We are full of fear. Iraqi women are losing their freedom instead of gaining freedom, because there is a lack of security. Now we're supposed to be free. But now we are more afraid."

Most Iraqi people are living in misery, and Sabah says when her life became unbearable, she turned to Valium for escape. In Iraq, Valium is sold without a prescription and costs only 20 cents a bottle. Sabah says the constant state of fear is driving more and more women to the highly addictive drug.

[kenB]

Geez, guys, I'm sorry that the Iraqi blogs are on the right-hand side of the page, but I ran out of bloody room.

Ooooooooooohhhhh. I searched for "riverbend" just in case you had pulled something tricky like that -- I didn't realize that her blog was otherwise named.

[Moe Lane]

'S OK. I haven't updated the blogroll in, like, forever anyway.

Moe

[DaveC]

Whoops, sorry.
(That may be a little muffled - still in process of removing foot from mouth)

[carsick]

Screw Canada. Maybe we should start buying our drugs from Iraq. Start a much needed new enterprise over there and lower our out of pocket drug costs over here. Win win.

[Tacitus]

The woman who was with Oprah was Zianab (sic) Salbi....

Wrong, Wilfred. Cripes, Google her -- that alone ought to discount her as the source of the given quote. (She was on the show c.4 years back.) Edward has correctly identified the guest in question.

If you're interested in an Iraqi woman's perspective, there's always my interview with Zainab al Suwaij. Don't take this -- or Riverbend, for that matter -- as the sole POV.

[carsick]

Tacitus
I can't imagine anyone on this site assuming any one person is the sole POV of a whole country.

[Edward]

Tacitus, Wilfred seems to be right, according to Oprah's site, both were on

Here's the bit on Zainab Salbi:

Zainab Salbi is an Iraqi-American and founder of Women for Women International, an organization that helps women around the world who have survived the atrocities of war. She says Iraq is in complete disarray and, for women especially, unbelievably dangerous.

"The first month after the war, the first sector that got targeted was women," Zainab says. "The rape and the kidnapping of [Iraqi] women happened in June and July [2003.]" Zainab explains since the liberation of Iraq, law and order have collapsed, leaving many women terrified to leave their homes and literally in the dark. "There's chaos. There's anarchy. There's no police force. There's no system anymore. The electricity is on two hours a day, off four hours and it's 120 degrees in the summer. So the electricity situation, which we have to notice, has economic impact. A lot of women who are running businesses in their homes are no longer able to do that. It has a security impact, because, especially in the winter, you know, it's darkness. An education impact, because in school, the kids are no longer able to do their homework. And it's basically taking a toll on everyone's life."

[Tacitus]

Looks like I've misread Wilfred. Mea culpa.

[243]

FYI, the blog for Salaam Pax (which you do have listed) has been changed to http://justzipit.blogspot.com/ although he hasn't posted there since mid Sept.

[sidereal]

"She now owns a rifle "

Success!

[Bill]

why does Oprah hate America?

[Mike]

Your site looks great!!!!!!!!!! Please, look at my ;)