Whenever I eat a banana I remember the story told to me by one of Iraq’s few ACA Chartered Accountants. When I met him he was Finance Director in an Iraqi Government Agency. (Please permit me not to be too specific. I do not want the guy to end up in another Jail!).

He told me that during the first years of the American Occupation of Iraq (or Liberation, if you want to call it that) he spent 3 months in the Abu Ghraib Prison (where the US military abused prisoners) and a further 6 months in an American Prisoner-of-war Camp near Basra.

The way it happened was because of the bananas.

At that time he worked for an Iraqi Importer of Bananas. The Bananas of course arrive green in the country. Now at the day when the bananas went to the market the Importer switched on in the warehouse some gas heaters to make the green bananas a bit yellower and ready for consumption. For the purpose of this ‘yellowing’ the Importer had some large gas canisters. He used to switch them on for a while on the day of marketing the bananas, so that they would look a bit yellow.

Another Iraqi Importer wanted to get rid of the competition. Easy. Just tell the American Occupation Forces (or Liberation forces if you like) that Company X is in the terrorist business and has Gas Cylinders to prepare the next road-side-bombing and …. the American forces sweep in and without questioning arrest 25 staff members, all of them from the watchmen to the Finance Director.

Within the first month or so one of the US Military Medical Officers said ‘you do not seem to belong here’. The Finance Director replied: ‘I agree with you, but please tell that to your bosses’. It took them another 8 months to finally release them all, minus one old man who died in captivity.

Just a thought when eating a ripe banana ….