When politicians, journalists, academics and others talk of the 2003 war in Iraq, they often speak in numbers, the money it cost, the estimated number of people killed and injured, the number of foreign troops stationed there, and so on. But for Iraqis, the conversation is often about what cannot be measured in numbers: the immense sense of loss, the dashed hopes and the trauma of compounded crises that predate 2003.

In this episode, Iraqi energy expert Ali Al-Saffar speaks in a personal capacity about his father’s kidnapping in 2006, how he remembers him and how little is known about him since that fateful day.

This episode was produced by Doaa Farid, editing and sound design by Arthur Eddyson, music by Naseer Shamma.