Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
San Diego Union-Tribune
March 22, 2008 By Mohammed Abbas and Yasser Faisal
HABBANIYAH, Iraq – Once a lovers' getaway, Habbaniyah Tourist Village in western Iraq became a refugee camp during some of the fiercest fighting since the fall of Baghdad. Amr al-Dulaimi now hopes to turn it into a romantic haven again.
Dulaimi runs the crumbling tourist resort, formerly a favorite wedding and honeymoon destination for Iraqis.
After the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, the resort found itself next to an al-Qaeda in Iraq stronghold and center of a bloody Sunni insurgency.
But as security slowly improves in Anbar, potential investors are looking into whether the village almost every Iraqi remembers as a place of love, romance and fun family days can be resurrected.
“It was beautiful. My wife and I would walk by the lake. I'm so sad about what it's become,” said mechanic Alaa Naji, who got married in the village in 1999.
“Tourism is important because all we've seen is killing and bad news,” he said. “We need somewhere to relax.”
Built in 1979, the tourist village is on the shores of Lake Habbaniyah in Anbar province, a former haven for al-Qaeda in Iraq, and close to Fallujah, scene of some of the bloodiest battles between insurgents and U.S. and Iraqi forces.
“I tell you with certainty that the people for the last five years have gone through hell and are looking for entertainment,” Dulaimi said. “It really saddens me when I talk to officials and they say, 'Now is not the time for tourism.'”
Dulaimi has an ally in his quest. The U.S. military says the resort could provide jobs and dampen support for al-Qaeda in Iraq among the Sunni Arab region's poor.
Despite a major drop in the country's violence, Dulaimi probably will struggle to lure many Iraqis, particularly those from the majority Shiite Muslim sect.
They would be too afraid to visit the former al-Qaeda in Iraq stronghold. Sectarian violence between Sunni and Shiite Muslims has killed tens of thousands since February 2006.
Security checkpoints, army convoys and insurgent attacks also make travel around Iraq difficult and dangerous.
After years of war and sanctions, all that remains of the village's once-lush gardens is dirt and scrub.
Rusted carousel horses seem suspended in the air, and eerie headless elephants are all that's left of another fairgrounds ride.
About 400 people who fled fighting in Fallujah and Baghdad now live among the village's 565 chalets, and children scramble among the playground's twisted metal and flaking paint.
Capt. Leroy Butler, who is part of a U.S. military team responsible for security in Habbaniyah and the surrounding area, has been trying to help the refugees return home, and his team has started small projects to employ some of the resort's staff.
They are also trying to get top officials to support the reconstruction of Habbaniyah, initially for use as a conference center. But despite pledges of support, Butler has had no luck in securing money for the project.
Butler estimated that it could cost up to $80 million to restore the site, which in the 1980s won an award for best tourist resort in the Middle East, to a basic standard.
“If you ask leaders in Anbar, or people who've lived in Baghdad, they will tell you that they have great memories of the village: 'I honeymooned there, or took my family there.' You'll hear this resounding message over and over again,” Butler said.
During peak holiday periods in the village's heyday, up to 5,000 people – family groups from around the world as well as newlyweds – would visit. Iraqis say a large proportion of their countrymen have been to the village and have fond memories.
Butler has met potential investors for the village, currently state-owned, and they are due to visit the site. The Arab investors include Iraqis and foreigners, he said.
“The feeling among the investors was pretty good. ... Some of them either got married or honeymooned there, and they really had a feeling that this is important to the Iraqi people and very much want to be a part of Iraq's revitalization,” Butler said.
March 22, 2008 By Mohammed Abbas and Yasser Faisal
HABBANIYAH, Iraq – Once a lovers' getaway, Habbaniyah Tourist Village in western Iraq became a refugee camp during some of the fiercest fighting since the fall of Baghdad. Amr al-Dulaimi now hopes to turn it into a romantic haven again.
Dulaimi runs the crumbling tourist resort, formerly a favorite wedding and honeymoon destination for Iraqis.
After the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, the resort found itself next to an al-Qaeda in Iraq stronghold and center of a bloody Sunni insurgency.
But as security slowly improves in Anbar, potential investors are looking into whether the village almost every Iraqi remembers as a place of love, romance and fun family days can be resurrected.
“It was beautiful. My wife and I would walk by the lake. I'm so sad about what it's become,” said mechanic Alaa Naji, who got married in the village in 1999.
“Tourism is important because all we've seen is killing and bad news,” he said. “We need somewhere to relax.”
Built in 1979, the tourist village is on the shores of Lake Habbaniyah in Anbar province, a former haven for al-Qaeda in Iraq, and close to Fallujah, scene of some of the bloodiest battles between insurgents and U.S. and Iraqi forces.
“I tell you with certainty that the people for the last five years have gone through hell and are looking for entertainment,” Dulaimi said. “It really saddens me when I talk to officials and they say, 'Now is not the time for tourism.'”
Dulaimi has an ally in his quest. The U.S. military says the resort could provide jobs and dampen support for al-Qaeda in Iraq among the Sunni Arab region's poor.
Despite a major drop in the country's violence, Dulaimi probably will struggle to lure many Iraqis, particularly those from the majority Shiite Muslim sect.
They would be too afraid to visit the former al-Qaeda in Iraq stronghold. Sectarian violence between Sunni and Shiite Muslims has killed tens of thousands since February 2006.
Security checkpoints, army convoys and insurgent attacks also make travel around Iraq difficult and dangerous.
After years of war and sanctions, all that remains of the village's once-lush gardens is dirt and scrub.
Rusted carousel horses seem suspended in the air, and eerie headless elephants are all that's left of another fairgrounds ride.
About 400 people who fled fighting in Fallujah and Baghdad now live among the village's 565 chalets, and children scramble among the playground's twisted metal and flaking paint.
Capt. Leroy Butler, who is part of a U.S. military team responsible for security in Habbaniyah and the surrounding area, has been trying to help the refugees return home, and his team has started small projects to employ some of the resort's staff.
They are also trying to get top officials to support the reconstruction of Habbaniyah, initially for use as a conference center. But despite pledges of support, Butler has had no luck in securing money for the project.
Butler estimated that it could cost up to $80 million to restore the site, which in the 1980s won an award for best tourist resort in the Middle East, to a basic standard.
“If you ask leaders in Anbar, or people who've lived in Baghdad, they will tell you that they have great memories of the village: 'I honeymooned there, or took my family there.' You'll hear this resounding message over and over again,” Butler said.
During peak holiday periods in the village's heyday, up to 5,000 people – family groups from around the world as well as newlyweds – would visit. Iraqis say a large proportion of their countrymen have been to the village and have fond memories.
Butler has met potential investors for the village, currently state-owned, and they are due to visit the site. The Arab investors include Iraqis and foreigners, he said.
“The feeling among the investors was pretty good. ... Some of them either got married or honeymooned there, and they really had a feeling that this is important to the Iraqi people and very much want to be a part of Iraq's revitalization,” Butler said.