Chapter 28: Undercurrents

Kamal Hana Gegeo was a happy man. He had become steadily happier over the previous few years.

Once upon a time he had begrudgingly taken up a role as the bodyguard and assistant of a violent Sunni Arab dictator as a form of self sacrifice on behalf of his community. After all, in the Middle East if you were a minority, especially a religious one, you needed a strong patron within the establishment to survive the inevitable aggression that would be directed at you.

But Kamals boss had changed. And it hadn't been a process, he had seemingly changed overnight. From an overconfident jingoistic, violent bastard he had transformed into a calculating, sharp visionary with anxiety levels that sometimes skyrocketed.

Kamal had noted the change but had never raised the issue with anyone out of a sense of self preservation. Now he didnt care to. He prayed that whatever screw had gotten loose in Saddam's head never got tight again. Actually subconsciously Kamal considered Saddam to be two separate people pre-1979 and New Saddam. Kamal thought of New Saddam with a lot of affection though it was never spoken.

What truly made him happy however was the work of administration. As the President's Chief of Staff his role was large and varied. He effectively served as the arm of Saddam but over the last year and a half he had increasingly become Saddam's brain as well. He was utterly grateful that Saddam trusted him with some of the biggest decisions that impacted Iraq. And for the first time in many many years he was proud to be Iraqi. There was an undercurrent of patriotic feeling in the country. The entire land was buzzing about what they were accomplishing together.

Only when Saddam had started to trust Kamal with handling entire projects by himself, did Kamal realise just how many things it was possible for a human to think about at one time.

One minute he could be interceding with Laila al Najafi on behalf of the tearful Curator of the newly instituted Ur Archaelogical Park while elsewhere he was overseeing the ambitious deployment of 5 million footballs across the length and breadth of the country to get children more passionately acquainted with the sport. Sometimes there would be unanticipated land holdings obstructing the planned path of the passenger rail corridor while other times an oil well in the Rumaila field could have collapsed. He loved it.

He was also happy for Saddam. He felt proud that he could take some of the load off of the President's shoulders. Saddam looked like a man reborn. He had even made a "friend" a Lost Child doctor working at Baghdad General.

Kamal was happy for Saddam and his new friend. He personally didnt find Dr. Ayaan Ayyub attractive, she was too hard faced and angular, but New Saddam clearly enjoyed her company immensely. It was all above board. The President would invite his friend over for Brunch on Sundays and they would simply lounge around near the pool or on the first floor verandah overlooking the Tigris. Kamal thought their playdates were very cute and invited his friend Ahmed to surreptitiously spy on the budding couple.

"That's her..."Kamal whispered peeking out from between the curtains. "What have you found out about her?"

"Ayaan Ayyub. Previously Ayaan Saviastone. Born outside Baghdad but brought up mainly in Milan. Speaks Italian, English and accented Arabic," Ahmed replied gruffly but he also looked curious and excited.

They watched as Saddam dropped a dollop of gravy onto his pants and then wiped furiously at the stain with a tablecloth while Ayaan laughed uproariously at him.

"That stain will bother him for the rest of the day," Kamal noted clicking his tongue. "Should I go and offer a change of clothes?"

"Hnnnn, just let them be. He looks happy." Ahmed replied.

"Hmmmm," replied Kamal non-committally. "By the way are her parents Sunni or Shia?"

"Mother is Shia, father is Sunni."

"Oh my word, it's like she's purpose built for him," Kamal said wondrously.

"Maktub."

A few days later, Kamal met with Saddam in the Presidents office. Kamal had been working long hours to make sure that a gas pipeline deal with the tiny nation of Qatar had been signed.

Over the previous few months, the Power Ministry had warned that personal and industrial consumption of power in the country was shooting up and that as per the extant generation capacity, most places in Iraq would see brownouts by the year end and large scale blackouts the following year. They had all scrambled to solve this massive issue. The Power Ministry had suggested oil based power plants as the most feasible solution but Saddam had refused saying that oil was meant to be an export commodity only and that using it domestically for power was a waste. Instead he had demanded that Iraq purchase natural gas from the relatively oil poor Qataris. The waters were muddied by the fact that an underwater pipeline that the Qataris had agreed to share the cost of would fall within the territorial waters of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia who both had to be encouraged by big brother America to agree to the construction of the pipeline.

It had been a tough negotiation, but Kamal was very pleased that it was over. The pipeline would be finished by the end of the year, laid by an American company as recompense for getting involved with Bahrain and the Saudis. The new massive capacity power plant in Southern Iraq would also be completed by then ensuring that for at least the next decade of economic expansion, Iraqs energy needs were secured.

The entire time Kamal had been summarizing the update for Sadddam, he had felt that something was wrong. Saddam looked grim and didnt seem to be listening, just nodding from time to time.

"Sir," Kamal began,"what is the matter? You seem troubled."

Saddam didnt speak for a moment and then looked seriously at Kamal.

"Something is wrong Kamal. I have a feeling that somethings going to happen."

Kamal simply nodded. Over the past few years he had gotten used to New Saddam's 'instincts'. These instincts only showed up from time to time but they generally turned out to be right.

"What should we do?"

Saddam sighed, "The issue is who we can trust and how much of an alarm to raise."

"Is there some Iraqi you suspect of acting against you?" Kamal asked incredulously. There was nary an Iraqi who had a bad thing to say nowadays about the regime.

Saddam looked at him, "I dont know. But yes, some internal action is where we're weakest."

They sat in silence until Saddams posture changed.

"Let's take this thing head on. I want you to get in touch with Mr. Shaw. Request American help in monitoring Iran, Lebanon and Syria. See if there are signs of their military mobilizing or their Air Force doing more frequent sorties. And put the Baghdad Chief of Police on alert to keep an eye out for suspicious actors. I also want concrete blocks in the widest thoroughfares ready to be deployed at a moments notice. And lastly I want fortifications around the Palace."

"Surely sir no one would be foolish to attack us here directly!" Kamal said in alarm.

Saddam shook his head, "This is exactly where they would attack. For all intents and purposes I am the Iraqi state for now. If they take me out they take Iraq."

Kamals tiredness had disappeared as he made to leave the office. Adrenalin was coursing through his veins. He would oil his firearm today and make sure it was functioning.

Saddam called out as he reached the door, "Kamal when you make an escape plan for your family, make one for Ayaan as well."