Thanks, America: Letting Us Die For You

- By Lindsay M. Levesque

"We don't have weapons," said Muhammad Hashem Rahma, the lieutenant colonel at this station here in the Khudra neighborhood in western Baghdad. "We don't have flak jackets. We don't have good cars. And we are face to face with death, because everybody thinks we are supporting the Americans." He said he himself had received a death threat three days after the bombing.

Then a rocket-propelled grenade exploded 200 yards away and Colonel Rahma ran to investigate, ending the interview.
---NY Times, November 9, 2003

INT. IRAQI POLICE HEADQUARTERS, WEST BAGHDAD - DAY Concrete floor and walls. Water - hopefully, water - drips out of the pipes on the ceiling. The windows are broken and shots are heard from outside. United States Defense Secretary, DONALD RUMSFELD, wearing a bullet-proof vest, leans against a card table that apparently serves as a desk, covered with papers. A young Iraqi man, AHMED, stands at attention before him.

DONALD
Heh. Heh. Well…uh…

AHMED
Ahmed, Sir.

DONALD
That's sure a funny name. Were your parents hippies?

AHMED
It was my father's name, Sir, and his father's before-

DONALD
So you're telling me your whole family has a history of being hippies? Are you sure you have the discipline required to serve in the Iraqi police?

A BULLET shatters the glass of one of the windows. Both men hit the floor.

They look from side to side before rising again.

DONALD
I have a plane in five minutes. A war zone is no place for the Secretary of Defense.

AHMED
I thought the war was over, Sir.

DONALD
Oh yeah…About that…Just get out there and keep your head down. Lotta guys lose their heads the first day.

AHMED
You can trust me, Sir. I paid close attention to the thirty-minute training video your American troops showed at the bombed-out movie theatre. I'm ready to keep the peace.

DONALD
Excellent. And just remember, America stands behind you. We are gonna rebuild your country, 'cause lemme tell ya, this place is a dump.

AHMED
It really is a shame what two wars, Depleted Uranium Bombs, and more than a decade of economic sanctions will do to a country.

DONALD
Yeah, well, I'm getting the hell outta this pit. Best of luck!

Donald moves toward the door. A MASSIVE EXPLOSION outside causes the building to shake. Donald falls backward and through the card table.

DONALD
Maybe you ought to get out there first. Stabilize things.

AHMED
Yes, Sir!

Ahmed waits.

DONALD
What?

AHMED
I'll need my bullet-proof vest, Sir.

DONALD
Yeah…About that…We're out.

AHMED
But in the video-

DONALD
Hollywood is not real life!

AHMED
It was a training video!

DONALD
You know, you are beginning to sound like all those ungrateful liberated Iraqi's outside there.

Donald pulls out a gun.

DONALD
You sure you're not one of them?

AHMED
No…no, Sir.

DONALD
Okay, then. We gotta get out there and stabilize…And by "we," I mean "you."

AHMED
Yes, Sir!

Ahmed stands there watching Donald.

DONALD
What?

AHMED
I don't have a gun yet, Sir.

Donald hides his gun behind his back.

DONALD
Yeah…About that…There aren't any.

AHMED
But how will I control the enraged Anti-American mobs? I need a gun!

DONALD
It's not in the budget.

AHMED
But, Sir, what about the gun you just threatened my life with?

DONALD
What gun? That never happened.

AHMED
But, Sir-

DONALD
Whine, whine, whine! You people are really starting to get on my nerves. Maybe next time, I will just tell my president to find another, more grateful, country to destroy …er…liberate. You people are just lucky you have oil. That's all I have to say…

There is another EXPLOSION outside, followed by frightened SCREAMS.

TWO IRAQI POLICE OFFICERS carry a THIRD, covered in blood, on a stretcher.

Ahmed runs to the wounded man.

WOUNDED MAN
No! Don't take me to a hospital!

AHMED
But you've lost a leg!

WOUNDED MAN
My family can't afford the hospital. We'll have to sell our home, our clothes-

AHMED
No! Don't worry, My Friend! The Americans have pledged to pay the bills for all injuries suffered in the line of-

Donald claps a hand over Ahmed's mouth and puts a finger to his lips.

DONALD
Shh…

Donald shakes his head.

DONALD
To the hospital with him, Boys! No time to waste…

The police officers carry the man on the stretcher out.

AHMED
His family will starve!

DONALD
It's not in the budget.

AHMED
What about the $87 billion dollars that your government just approved for rebuilding-

DONALD
First of all, you're splitting that money with Afghanistan, and, second, it will go to more important things…like fixing up those oil fields.

AHMED
Lemme make sure I understand. There are no bullet-proof vests, no weapons, and, if we get hurt, you'll let our families starve…

DONALD
Congratulations. You're free.

AHMED
Thanks.

There is another EXPLOSION. Donald hits the floor. Ahmed walks outside

FADE TO BLACK. Lindsay M. Levesque is 21 a dramatic writing major and Spanish minor at New York University. She appreciates feedback at: LML246@nyu.edu