Sunday, June 29, 2003
One Day or Another
Sunday, June 22
Hussein shadow haunts Iraqis
By Craig Nelson, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Sunday, June 29, 2003
BAGHDAD -- More than two months after Saddam Hussein's ouster from power, Iraqis seldom exhibit any "Where's Elvis?" frivolity when asked to speculate about the location of his hiding place.
But wherever he may be, Hussein's legion of enemies in Iraq is virtually unanimous about one thing: They want him to suffer and suffer terribly.
"He should put in a car and taken around Iraq so every Iraqi can see him and so every Arab leader can see the fate they'll meet if they do what he did. Then he should be put in a cage in a zoo and fed little bits of food like the animal that he is," said Salman Ali, 24, a watermelon seller in the predominantly Shiite Muslim neighborhood of Karada.
Behind Ali, plastered across the wall of a building, was one explanation for his venom: photocopied pictures of 161 neighborhood Shiite men whom he said were executed in Hussein's prisons for practicing their brand of Islam.
With U.S. forces stepping up their search for Hussein following the capture of his personal secretary last week, Iraqis who loathe the former leader are of many minds when it comes to his whereabouts.
Most, however, share the view of many U.S. officials that he is alive and hiding in Iraq.
"I'll be disappointed if Hussein's killed by American soldiers," said Abbas Mohammed, 38. "It would be too comfortable for him to die like that. What's the most painful way to die? Whatever you can think of won't be enough for him. I want to drink his blood."
Yet for all the visceral hatred of Hussein, Iraqis still live under the shadow of the 66-year-old fugitive. Reports Sunday that he and his two sons may have been killed in a U.S. attack on a four-vehicle convoy in western Iraq last week have not dampened fears that he might return.
U.S. military officials also say Iraqis are reluctant to go to work for U.S.-led coalition forces because they are scared that if Hussein returns he will take revenge on them.
"He's in Iraq and he's watching us," said Majida Hikmat, 45. "We're afraid. He may come back."
The specter of Hussein also haunts Iraqis' visions of the future. While few say they want to see Hussein back in power, they long for an antidote to traffic jams, long lines at the gas pumps, garbage on street corners and electricity shortages.
Sawsan Abdul al-Razak, for one, would like to see Hussein return. "I admire him because he has a strong personality and he's a strong man," said the 43-year-old member of the Sunni sect of Islam, from whose Iraqi followers Hussein drew support. "I hope he comes back."
Talking with visitors this week in the living room of her home in the northern Baghdad district of Amariya, she denounced Iraqis who failed to defend Hussein's regime as "hypocrites" and insisted that if he returned, "a lot of Iraqis would support him because we don't feel safe and the Americans can't ensure security."
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Hussein shadow haunts Iraqis
By Craig Nelson, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Sunday, June 29, 2003
BAGHDAD -- More than two months after Saddam Hussein's ouster from power, Iraqis seldom exhibit any "Where's Elvis?" frivolity when asked to speculate about the location of his hiding place.
But wherever he may be, Hussein's legion of enemies in Iraq is virtually unanimous about one thing: They want him to suffer and suffer terribly.
"He should put in a car and taken around Iraq so every Iraqi can see him and so every Arab leader can see the fate they'll meet if they do what he did. Then he should be put in a cage in a zoo and fed little bits of food like the animal that he is," said Salman Ali, 24, a watermelon seller in the predominantly Shiite Muslim neighborhood of Karada.
Behind Ali, plastered across the wall of a building, was one explanation for his venom: photocopied pictures of 161 neighborhood Shiite men whom he said were executed in Hussein's prisons for practicing their brand of Islam.
With U.S. forces stepping up their search for Hussein following the capture of his personal secretary last week, Iraqis who loathe the former leader are of many minds when it comes to his whereabouts.
Most, however, share the view of many U.S. officials that he is alive and hiding in Iraq.
"I'll be disappointed if Hussein's killed by American soldiers," said Abbas Mohammed, 38. "It would be too comfortable for him to die like that. What's the most painful way to die? Whatever you can think of won't be enough for him. I want to drink his blood."
Yet for all the visceral hatred of Hussein, Iraqis still live under the shadow of the 66-year-old fugitive. Reports Sunday that he and his two sons may have been killed in a U.S. attack on a four-vehicle convoy in western Iraq last week have not dampened fears that he might return.
U.S. military officials also say Iraqis are reluctant to go to work for U.S.-led coalition forces because they are scared that if Hussein returns he will take revenge on them.
"He's in Iraq and he's watching us," said Majida Hikmat, 45. "We're afraid. He may come back."
The specter of Hussein also haunts Iraqis' visions of the future. While few say they want to see Hussein back in power, they long for an antidote to traffic jams, long lines at the gas pumps, garbage on street corners and electricity shortages.
Sawsan Abdul al-Razak, for one, would like to see Hussein return. "I admire him because he has a strong personality and he's a strong man," said the 43-year-old member of the Sunni sect of Islam, from whose Iraqi followers Hussein drew support. "I hope he comes back."
Talking with visitors this week in the living room of her home in the northern Baghdad district of Amariya, she denounced Iraqis who failed to defend Hussein's regime as "hypocrites" and insisted that if he returned, "a lot of Iraqis would support him because we don't feel safe and the Americans can't ensure security."
