Following the Biblical call to turn swords into ploughshares, junkyard owner Ahmad Ali Thalib is converting scrapped jet fighters into pots and pans. Standing beside the gutted remains of a MiG-25 — capable of flying nearly three times the speed of sound — Thalib joked that in recent months he has destroyed more aircraft of the once-proud Iraqi Air Force than had all of its assorted enemies put together. The tons of duraluminium and other metals that are recoverable from each warplane are worth a small fortune to scrap metal dealers in Iraq and neighboring countries. "We’re also selling to scrap dealers in Lebanon, Turkey and Iran, but some of this ends up as cooking containers for Iraqis," he said. "At least these planes are now useful to people," he said tapping on the triangular green national insignia on the MiG’s flank. The now-defunct Iraqi Air Force was once considered the best in the Arab world. Founded in 1931, it fought in numerous conflicts in the Middle East, battling the British in 1941 and Israel in 1948 and 1967.
| They were pretty consistently on the wrong side. Pretty consistently shot up, too. "Best in the Arab world" isn't much of a title... |
Iraq’s armed forces were officially disbanded in May, after the U.S.-led coalition occupied Baghdad and ended Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship. Although Washington is now scrambling to set up a new army to deal with an escalating rebellion, there are no immediate plans to resurrect military aviation.
EFL |