Iraqi President Saddam Hussein admires a photograph of himself during an exhibition of gifts on June 2001. The photograph was presented to him for his birthday on April 28, 2001, by the Iraqi Information Ministry. (photo by REUTERS)
Adnan Abu Zeed, Al-Monitor: Were Iraqis really better off under Saddam?
BAGHDAD — The Baath regime led by former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein collapsed in September 2003 in the wake of the US invasion. Iraq has been uneasy ever since and has yet to recover. Every now and then, voices are heard measuring the current security chaos against the relative stability of Saddam’s rule (1979-2003).
But whose voices are they, really?
Saddam is remembered amid Iraq's current state of the deteriorating political, security and economic situation. Citizens, cultural and political elites, and active politicians have compared post-Saddam governments to his regime.
In a Jan. 25 interview conducted with Asharq Al-Awsat, former Iraqi Vice President Ayad Allawi (2014-15) said, “Iraqis are nostalgic for Saddam’s days,” in a reference to the worsening situation in the country and the political rift.
That statement might seem hasty, but amid the heated political environment, it fuels tension and leads to finger-pointing. We have often heard that Saddam’s men or the Baathists are the ones making the comparison. Many Iraqi media outlets, such as Al-Masalah website, noted that Allawi’s statement has “dubious" motives and that Allawi is paving the way for the return of the Baath Party. Parliament members discussed Feb. 8 a decision to ban the Baath Party; however, this matter has yet to be settled.
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WNU Editor: For the Sunni population life was better under Saddam .... for the Kurds it was hell. I guess it depends on who you ask.
5 comments:
I know three Arab barbers. A Syrian, a Lebanese and an Iraqi. The Syrian is middle aged as I am but the others are in their twenties.
The Iraqi tells me that life with the Baath was infinitely better. "Everyone had their place. We were safe. Today, Iraq is a jungle." He says no one "gave a shit" about "the religion. These people are crazy. The invasion destroyed Iraq."
Depends who you ask? Yep. The "western" educated ex pat implant loves today's Iraq. Just as the repressed Islamo-lunatic and the defence contractor do. The every day working class Iraqi? Not so much.
http://riverbendblog.blogspot.ca/2006_12_01_archive.html?m=1#116738820591750213
"2006 has been, decidedly, the worst year yet. No- really. The magnitude of this war and occupation is only now hitting the country full force. It's like having a big piece of hard, dry earth you are determined to break apart. You drive in the first stake in the form of an infrastructure damaged with missiles and the newest in arms technology, the first cracks begin to form. Several smaller stakes come in the form of politicians like Chalabi, Al Hakim, Talbani, Pachachi, Allawi and Maliki. The cracks slowly begin to multiply and stretch across the once solid piece of earth, reaching out towards its edges like so many skeletal hands. And you apply pressure. You surround it from all sides and push and pull. Slowly, but surely, it begins coming apart- a chip here, a chunk there."
Ah, Iyad "the Executioner" Allawi who served as the Iraqi face of the occupation during the reign of Paul Bremer, first as puppet "defense minister" and then Prime Minister. Allawi was a principal figure, second only to Chalabi, in the network of Iraqi exiles who did so much to lie us into war.
RRH is correct. Things weren't perfect under Saddam, they never are, but Sunni and Shia lived near each other, worked together and even intermarried. Then the US stepped in and consciously worsened the situation in its persistent "divide and conquer" strategy. The whole story is here (scroll down to below the fold).
The Mideast in general was a much better place 15 years ago, we will feel the repercussions of the Wests interference, for decades to come.
Thank you for the link Don. It is just as the Arabs say: the United States and her allies created Daesh. The evidence is overwhelming and should be used to bring forward indictments.
But since they own the courts...
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