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December 15, 2005
The boy's club
Here in the US, our political leaders come from Yale. In Iraq, they come from a Jesuit high school called Baghdad College.
The three Iraqi political leaders considered most likely to end up as prime minister after nationwide elections this week - Ayad Allawi, Ahmad Chalabi and Adel Abdul Mahdi - were schoolmates at the all-boys English-language school in the late 1950's, fortunate members of the Baghdad elite that governed Iraq until successive waves of revolution and terror swept it away.In our egalitarian age, the idea of a ruling elite based on privileged childhood ties seems archaic and oppressive. But these family networks supported an Iraqi nationalism which Saddam destroyed by fostering tribal competition. It is significant that these three politicians with different ideas for Iraq's future think of themselves as proud Iraqis, and still speak fondly of each other. They may be Iraq's best hope for the unified but diverse nation which many Iraqis want.. . . The three men are now flag bearers for three very different visions of Iraq's future: Mr. Allawi for a secular state, Mr. Mahdi for an Islamic-style democracy, and Mr. Chalabi for a program that would purge Iraqi society of those associated with Mr. Hussein's rule.
From the inspiring to the despicable - Uday and Qusay also attended Baghdad College:
"Qusay was very stupid; he got a 4 percent on one of his midterm examinations," said Yacob Yusef, the headmaster. "Uday was smarter," Mr. Yusef said. "Sometimes the teachers would answer the questions for him."
In the 1980's, Omar al-Tikriti, the son of Barzan al-Tikriti, one of Mr. Hussein's top henchmen and now on trial in Baghdad accused of mass killings, ran in an election for the students' representative to the faculty. When Omar received only two votes, his bodyguards attacked the winning student, leaving him paralyzed . .
UPDATE: Dave Schuler wrote about Jesuit education and Baghdad College awhile back.
Judith | 12/15/05 at 06:00 AM | Categories: - Iraq
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