Heavy Metal by Andy Capper & Gabi Sifre

Author:Andy Capper & Gabi Sifre
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pocket Book
Published: 2009-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

BAGHDAD, 2006.

PHOTO BY EDDY MORETTI.

It was such a different vibe. Like, here we are with all our security and then there are the regular Iraqi dudes in taxis. So it occurred to me: What would happen if we went into the city in those cars? What would that experience be like? For a second we thought that’s how we should do this.

It would have basically been suicide. You have to understand that we went there at the height of insurgency activity in 2006. There were two hundred people dying a day and eight “major events” per day as well. I mean, that’s how you make the news, becoming a casualty. Instead you try and blend into the culture because there are people out there looking for us, to kill us.

SUROOSH: Things felt relatively normal when we were driving around, apart from the blown-out buildings, the military vehicles, and the constant gunfire. The architecture was a combination of beautiful old Islamic buildings and mosques mixed with these massive concrete Saddam-era structures everywhere. I really liked Baghdad, and I’ve never seen another place like it. But it’s hard to describe what things were really like in the streets because we never got to walk around in them. The week we were there was the worst violence Baghdad had seen since the war started; there were virtually no foreigners around and if a Westerner was spotted on the streets they would be kidnapped or killed on the spot, so our security kept us on a tight leash. Which was a bummer. Not being able to engage with whatever society existed out there was frustrating.

There was one move that our security guys kept doing which was on some real Wild West shit. Whenever we were driving and there were too many cars in front of us or behind us, they would just roll down their windows and start firing their AK-47s and nine-millimeters into the air, which would magically clear the cars out of our way. The psychology behind that particular move being “Stay on the offensive and you won’t get attacked.”

EDDY: Ahmed coached us. It was things like how to dress. There was one little gift shop where we could get gray pants and a shitty polo shirt. We would have to wear those and then they told us to walk with our heads kind of down and our arms limp to the side.

A lot of people are on Valium in Baghdad, they’re chilled out. Nobody was on speed but everybody’s on a downer or a depressant. The Americans brought in a lot of Valium and dispensed it. They didn’t want young men amped up—they wanted them relaxed. So the main rules were: Walk like you’re on Valium and carry some prayer beads and don’t speak to anybody unless spoken to. A good way of getting out of conversation with anybody else was to tilt your

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