Iraq: A Depleted Generation
Photographs and text by J.B. Russell
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
After several hours of waiting and nearly $100 of obligatory baksheesh at the desolate Iraqi-Jordanian border I climbed back into my GMC Suburban, one of a fleet that regularly ply the desert between Amman and Baghdad, happy to continue on my voyage. I felt content to have managed to avoid the normally mandatory AIDS test at the frontier. It was January 17th, ten years to the day since the beginning of the Gulf War. After more than a decade under an embargo which has caused widespread
hardships and shortages in Iraq, I was more than a bit apprehensive at the prospect of having someone stick a needle in me at a remote border post. As my driver began to pull away, the Iraqi border official that had orchestrated the distribution of all my $10 bills, including a large percentage for himself, came running out of the dusty building and stopped our vehicle. What now, I thought? AIDS test after all? More cash? No, he had finished his two week shift of money extraction and with a friendly smile asked for a ride back to Baghdad.

Index | Reportage | Conceptual | Projects | Links | Search | Support | About
All Rights Reserved. © foto8 2001