[Dialogue] 4 Years After Hussein's Fall, Regret in Iraq

[Jim Rippey]

Here is an excerpt from a sobering Washington Post story.  At the end is
information on how to view the entire story.  --Jim Rippey

 

4 Years After Hussein's Fall, Regret in Iraq

 

By Sudarsan Raghavan, Washington Post

 

BAGHDAD, April 8 -- In a garage filled with classic motorcycles, Khadim
al-Jubouri stared at the four-year-old magazines he usually keeps tucked
inside a wooden desk. All of them contained photographs of a lone, burly man
wearing a black tank top and swinging a sledgehammer into the base of a
tall, bronze statue of Saddam Hussein... Then, with the help of an American
tank and a winch, it toppled, creating one of the defining images of the
U.S.-led invasion. Over one photo of Jubouri, a headline reads: "The Fall of
Baghdad."  (That was April 9, 2003, the day Baghdad fell to invading U.S.
troops.)

Four years after that moment, with violence besieging the country, Jubouri
is concerned with neither benchmarks nor timelines, troop strengths nor
withdrawal dates. What he cares most about is security and order, of which,
he said, he has seen very little. He blames Iraq's
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/countries/iraq.html?nav=el>
Shiite-led government and its security forces, and wishes for a return of
the era led by the man whose statue he helped tear down.

"We got rid of a tyrant and tyranny. But we were surprised that after one
thief had left, another 40 replaced him," said Jubouri, who is a Shiite
Muslim. "Now, we regret that Saddam Hussein is gone, no matter how much we
hated him."

 

To view the entire article, go to
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/08/AR2007040801
058.html?referrer=emailarticle

 

 

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