Virtually dead
Confronted with the reality of war on the streets of their city, young people in Baghdad wage their own war on the Americans -- in virtual reality, writes Karim Gawhary
Saddam Hussein inches his way slowly along a row of houses. Gun at the ready, he makes his way from one dark corner to the next, always on the lookout for George Bush, who may be hiding around the next dark corner. Of George, however, there is no sign; all Saddam sees are a couple of US soldiers; he finishes them off with a couple of rounds.
"I love being Saddam's character, because he's so strong," explains Mohamed, alias Matrix, guiding the former Iraqi dictator across the screen with a flick of the mouse. In real life 24- year-old Mohamed is studying English literature at Baghdad University.
Each evening a good two dozen Iraqi young people meet up in several amusement arcades, linked via computer network, in the middle-class area of Mansour to while away the evening playing war games. The Americans are in the cellar; on the ground floor their opponents, linked via computer cable, fight their virtual battle.
They are playing a computer game called "Medal of Honour", in the original version of which the German Wehrmacht fought against the Allies. But these young Iraqis have restructured the game somewhat for their own purposes. The Allies have remained, more or less, the Americans, while for the role of the Germans, these innovative young people have scanned in their own environment. Saddam Hussein fights alongside Bin Laden, and for an extra touch of reality, George Bush appears on the side of the Allies. Work is still being done, however, on the role of Paul Bremer, the chief civil administrator in Iraq.
Matrix kills an average of about 200 Americans per evening, he recounts proudly, eyes remaining glued to the screen in fear of an unexpected attack from an American sniper. He is not really like this, he explains. "We hate the American soldiers, but we'd never attack them," he assures. After all, it is not in his interest for them to pull out overnight. "If they did, we'd end up killing each other," said Matrix, a Sunni Muslim.
His neighbour at the next computer Hishem, alias "the Godfather" explains his side of the story. "Outside, in real life, we're the losers; at least here I can get rid of my aggression, but without risking my life." His favourite weapon is a bazooka, "because it's so effective", explains the Godfather. The only problem is the reloading time, which leaves one open to attack. War has a price, but instead of paying with his life, the Godfather pays 750 Iraqi dinars an hour, roughly $0.30. The 23-year-old pharmacology student gets the money from his parents. His university course comes to an end in three weeks, and then it is time to look for a job, a difficult task in post- war Baghdad, he says.
In this city of five million inhabitants, he says, there is "no place cool to hang out"; he and his friend must be at home by nine in the evening; the streets of Baghdad are too dangerous to be caught out after dark. The last time he tried to visit a friend in a suburb some distance from his own, an American military jeep was attacked by a real bazooka while he was driving along the street.
He and his friends used to spend time in their local café until, that is, a mine exploded two weeks ago in a coffee house in the Adhamiya area of Baghdad; their parents have told them the cafe is now out of bounds. So Matrix and the Godfather continue their virtual battle night after night in order to escape the real battle happening outside on the streets of Baghdad.
Their opponents, the "Americans", are downstairs in the basement. Nineteen-year-old Seif calls himself "Tim". Intent on guiding his fighters across the screen, Tim has barely a moment to glance up from the screen. So why does he spend every evening inside fighting a virtual battle where the real thing is happening practically every day under his very nose outside on the street? Tim doesn't really know. Couldn't he play virtual football instead? Seif simply shrugs his shoulders. "I'm used to war. Every time I've opened my eyes over the past 19 years I've been confronted with war," he explains.
Then it happens: Saddam suddenly appears in an archway; Tim hesitates for a split second, takes aim and fires. The dictator is dead on the spot. In the middle of an Iraqi amusement arcade, the American dream has become a reality. And would Seif have dared to shoot at the all- powerful president in a computer game just a year ago? Tim's laughs continue over the battlefield. Who knows, some other player upstairs has probably already selected another figure for the part of Saddam, arming him with a bazooka or hand grenade. Saddam will never die -- at least not in the virtual reality of a Baghdad's amusement arcade.
