Saddam nostalgia lives on
IRAQ: A decade after the US-led invasion of Iraq, years of violence
and disdain for the country’s current political class fuel nostalgia for
Saddam Hussein -- the man the foreign troops fought to oust.
Though accusations of ties to Saddam and his regime are used to tar
politicians in Baghdad, residents of his hometown, Tikrit, express
fondness for a man who, though responsible for ordering the deaths of
countless Iraqis, is remembered for having imposed stability, which has
long been missing.
“I will remain proud, and remember Saddam,” said Khaled Jamal, a
watch-seller in Tikrit. “Our country has not changed or developed in the
past 10 years.” Along with his frustration over the slow pace of
rebuilding -- many Iraqis, not just in Tikrit, suffer from poor
provision of basic services and high unemployment -- Jamal also voiced
another commonly-cited frustration: the apparent rise in sectarianism
since Saddam’s fall.
“There was no sectarianism, no Sunni and Shiite,” Jamal said.
“But now, that is the first question you hear when you meet someone,”
he added, referring to queries over a person’s province of origin, often
used to find out their religious background.
Saddam was born on April 28, 1937 in the village of Al-Oja, just
south of Tikrit, which lies north of Baghdad.
An activist in the now-banned Arab socialist Baath Party, Saddam was
sentenced to death in 1959 for plotting to kill Iraqi leader Abdul Karim
Qassem, and was a senior figure in the party when it took control of
Iraq in a 1968 military coup, though he only rose to power 11 years
later.
Domestically, Saddam espoused a secular vision for the country and
presented himself as an Arab leader who would stand up to neighbouring
non-Arab Iran, but was brutal with his opponents.
He is held responsible for the killings of tens of thousands of Kurds
in the “Anfal” campaign, and of up to 100,000 people who took part in an
uprising against his rule after the 1991 Gulf War, as well as other
massacres.
Internationally, he fought a costly and deadly 1980-1988 war with
Iran and invaded Kuwait in 1990 before being evicted by a US-led
international coalition, leading to crushing sanctions and a trade
embargo against Iraq.
Saddam was an international pariah by the time of the 2003 invasion,
his subsequent capture in 2004 and execution in December 2006.
But in Tikrit, he is remembered far more fondly as a leader who
fought for Iraq and was at the helm at a time when Iraqis enjoyed
relative domestic stability, especially compared to the brutal violence
that followed his ouster.
Saddam lavished attention on Tikrit, to the detriment of other,
particularly southern, Iraqi cities, but as a result his legacy in the
city remains strong.
“It is natural that we remain proud of him,” said Umm Sara. “Despite
the circumstances Iraq was living with, he was leading the country
without problems.”
“Saddam helped us a lot, so it is natural that we cherish him just as
others are proud of Charles de Gaulle,” said Abu Hussein, referring to
the former French president.
AFP
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