A crowd of men and boys gathered to sing Saddam's praises, and boys on their way home from school chanted: "After Saddam, came the destroyers" and complained of a lack of electricity, clean water and money for school books. "Saddam didn't kill anyone without a reason," said 14-year-old Ahmed Ali Ahmed. "Now these bombs just attack everybody. Everyone says it, Sunni or Shia. Life was better under Saddam."
Some residents said such comments did not necessarily indicate admiration for Saddam, who ruthlessly repressed Shias, Kurds and anyone even vaguely related to those who opposed him, as well as conducting a ruinous war with Iran in the 1980s which cost around 1 million lives.
"They're speaking like that because they're angry. People here haven't seen their lives improve," said Hussein Yassin, an interpreter for the US military. "I could never say that Saddam's time was better, even if we were living in hell. Members of my family were killed in 1982."
The US military and Iraq's new leaders had hoped Saddam's execution in 2006 would allow the country to move on. But in Salahuddin province, where Dujail lies, Saddam still casts a long shadow. He was born and buried there, and drew most of his inner-circle from the province. "Every person has his own opinion. They are either fans of Saddam Hussein, or the opposite," said provincial Governor Hamad al-Qaisi, speaking at a ceremony on a US military base to mark the start of a business initiative to train unemployed Iraqis.
http://newageislam.com/war-weary-saddam-victims-miss-his-iron-rule--/current-affairs/d/879
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9:28 PM
Moderate Islamist here
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