Confusion reigned as cultures clashed at the Iraqi Consulate in Southfield, Michigan, Wednesday afternoon. Inside the building, a 20-minute drive from downtown Detroit, a few Iraqi Americans scratched their heads over recent U.S. aggression in their homeland. Outside, a dozen or so men marched with U.S. flags in protest of the Iraqi government’s supposed veneration of deceased Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
The consulate opened a public record of condolences on Tuesday and Wednesday to honor the Iraqi nationals who died in the U.S. airstrikes that targeted the Iranian general. Visitors could sign their names to a registry as a way of paying their respects to the fallen Iraqi nationals. Southeast Michigan boasts one of the largest concentrations of Arab Americans in the United States.
The consulate’s website said the registry was “for the souls of the righteous martyrs who fell as a result of the recent American raids.”
Some news reports assumed that Soleimani was among those the record was intended to honor.
“That’s fake information,” said Iraqi Consul General of Detroit Adnan al Majoon, who blames the media for giving people the wrong idea about the Iraqi government.
Al Majoon said the record of condolences is meant only for the fallen Iraqi nationals, and that opening the public record is equivalent to how U.S. citizens would mourn the death of a senator or a former president or cope with the destruction of a natural disaster like an earthquake or a serious forest fire.
He noted that Abu Mahdi al Muhandis, the Iraqi leader of the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Force who was killed in the bombings is being honored for his efforts to defeat the Islamic State.
“When someone fights ISIS, they are fighting for all the world,” al Majoon said. “Because ISIS is bad for all the world.”
Al Muhandis was also the founder of Kataib Hezbollah, an anti-American insurgency group responsible for the deaths of many Americans, but al Majoon didn’t address this.
For him, the registry was simply routine procedure. And as Iraqi Americans trickled into the consulate to conduct normal business, it sure felt that way.
There was no line of people waiting to give condolences. There was no one visibly sad. There were certainly no chants of death to America — in all, it felt a lot like the DMV.
Karar Albaserri, 26, said he was unaware of the opening of the public record. He was there with his mother to file some paperwork. He said he has been following the news of the U.S. airstrikes on social media.
“They’re supposed to be working together fighting ISIS or something,” he said of the U.S. and Iraq. “I’m not a fan of what Trump did. Why not take [Soleimani] out on Iranian soil? Why take him out on Iraqi soil? Iraq has been through enough.”
Albaserri said Trump should have used violence only in retaliation. “Common sense ain’t so common anymore,” he shrugged.
Imam Husham al Husainy, an Iraqi American with dual citizenship, came to promote peace between the U.S. and Iraq.
“As Americans and Iraqis, we have double pain — we suffer twice,” he said. “I came to sympathize with the Iraqi people who are trying to build up a democratic society and system but who are going through a hard time and enduring bloodshed, killing, and confusion.”
“It’s sad to see Iraqis getting killed by the Americans,” he added. “And they both are united against ISIS.”
Al Husainy is a sheikh of the Karbala Islamic Education Center, a mosque in Dearborn, Michigan. He’s spent two-thirds of his life in America and has five children and nine grandchildren — all Americans.
He said he voted for Trump because he hates ISIS. He had hoped that Trump would deescalate tensions in the Middle East. He hopes that Trump will do so now.
“When I see Americans being killed, I feel bad because I’m an American citizen. And when I see Iraqis being killed, I feel bad because I’m an Iraqi citizen. I would like to see them united. And this is my mission in this life — to bring peace and build bridges between America and Iraq.”
Outside of the consulate, Jeff Hilliard, a 52-year-old man from Madison Heights, Michigan, paced the sidewalk quietly bearing a folded flag “for the 4,000 American servicemen and women that died fighting for Iraq,” he said. “I don’t think it was appropriate to open a record of condolences here at this consulate for that Iranian general and for the people who were killed in that bombing, when, the week before, I don’t recall them opening a record of condolences for the American that was killed on their land.”
At 2 p.m., Hilliard was the only protester, but by 3 p.m., a band of around a dozen men had gathered. They wore Trump merchandise, bore flags, and played the U.S. national anthem on a portable sound system.
“We’re protesting the consulate’s glorification of Iranian Gen. Soleimani,” Paul Taros, an accountant from Birmingham, Michigan, said.
On learning that the record of condolence was not intended for Soleimani, Tarose said, “I just heard it on the news that they were opening it up for the general. Someone should change that.”
It’s not just protesters who were confused. Some earnest white Americans stopped by to offer their condolences for the fallen Iranian general.
“It may not be recognized in the U.S., but elsewhere, it’s widely acknowledged that Soleimani was instrumental in the defeat of the Islamic State,” said Thomas Michalak, 26, from Oak Park, Michigan.
Michalak went into the building and emerged a minute later, confused and unsure of where or how he was supposed to offer his condolences.
“What’s actually happening?” he asked.
In a few moments, Michalak was joined by a handful of acquaintances who had a letter for the consulate’s record. When they learned the record of condolence was not intended for Soleimani, they said they were there to stand in solidarity with Iraq. Two of them were admitted to see the consul and deliver their letter.
All confusion aside, here’s what seems clear: It’s normal for Iraqi citizens to offer condolences for the death of fallen nationals. It’s abnormal for U.S. citizens to offer condolences for the death of terrorists. And it’s absolutely predictable that a group of misinformed Trump fans would protest something they didn’t understand.
As he waited for his mother to finish her business inside the consulate, Albaserri smoked a cigarette and watched the protesters march.
“Why can’t everyone just get along?” he asked.
That’s the million-dollar question we should all be asking.
Aaron B. Andrews (@Aaron_B_Andrews) is an editorial fellow at the Detroit News.
