Miracles in Baghdad

With all the bad news coming out of Baghdad, I wanted to take a few minutes to share a few “miracles” – events relating to my family in Baghdad and how they seem to somehow be protected from horrible fates.

Miracle One – Parking Next to a Rigged Car and Living to Tell About It

On March 10, 2006 one of my many cousins was driving back home from work in his 1991 Opel Optra (I think that’s the make of his car). As he was heading near a hospital in Baghdad, an Iraqi police convoy had signaled him to pull over so they could get by. He pulled over – right next to a parked car loaded with explosives. The result:








You might be thinking: how the heck do you survive that?

Well, right after the rigged car went off the police convoy stopped and pulled him out of the car before it exploded. My cousin escaped serious injury. In addition to being sprayed with glass, one of his ear drums was torn and the other ruptured. Doctors say they might be able to restore hearing to both ears.

It is also a miracle that a book in his car was not destroyed. It was a religious book with prayers and verses from the Quran. I wish I had a picture to show you.


Miracle Two – Criminals Caught Before Disrupting an Event

For the past 6 months or so, insurgents in Iraq have started targeting Shiite Muslims. Anybody who hosts a religious meeting or event at their house risks being blown up or latter killed.

My aunt has been wanting for weeks to hold a religious commemoration at her house. My family has been scared to host such an event, but decided enough was enough. On Thursday evening, March 23, was the date set.

On March 22, the Iraqi police stormed the house right across the street from theirs. They found a makeshift car-bomb making factory along with loads of weapons. Two cars parked in the house’s backyard were rigged and the police detonated them.

The criminals later confessed that they had planned to crash my aunt’s party.

Miracle Three – Detention Is Good For Your Health

Last week, my 14 year old cousin was sentenced to detention for not having his homework. He was bummed. Some of his friends were hanging out outside the school and he couldn’t join them.

A few minutes after his detention started, a car bomb went off outside his school. Nobody was sure what the target was – the best guess is that the bomb went off prematurely before reaching its target.

My cousin lost one of his friends in the blast. I am so glad he is ok, but I feel terrible for the parents of that dead boy. The insurgents will burn in Hell for this and all of their cowardly actions.

Miracle Four – Entering a Building Before Your Car is Blown Up

A few days ago (around March 22 or 23), the husband of one of my cousins went to work for the Ministry of Education in Baghdad. He parked his car in the same spot as usual. Only this time, the car that parked behind him was set to explode. It exploded only moments after he entered the building and was uninjured. Luckily, he was driving a government car.