Saddam nostalgia ‘lives on’ in antique shop
baghdad — Baghdad shopkeeper Anwar offers Saddam Hussein photos, coins and postage stamps that keep the ousted president alive 10 years after his execution and cater to customers nostalgic for his rule.
While Saddam was brutal to those who opposed him, and led his country into two disastrous wars, there are those who still look back fondly on his time in power, especially in comparison to the years of devastating internal violence and ineffective governance that followed his overthrow in 2003.
In his antique shop, Anwar proudly caresses a leather holster stamped with the words: “On behalf of President Saddam Hussein.”
“It was a gift that Saddam gave to deserving officers,” said Anwar, who may be his own best customer • Saddam ordered the killing of scores of his opponents. • He launched a disastrous war with Iran and invaded Kuwait. • The military actions lead to punishing sanctions on Iraq. • However, his rule is also for Saddam memorabilia.
“I am constantly looking for items related to Saddam, but when I find them, I often keep them for myself,” said the young man, who mainly trades in more innocuous, non-political items.
Offering a line of reasoning often used to support the ex-president, Anwar said: “Saddam Hussein known for stability. • Iraqis enjoyed quality education and health care under his regime. • At present, many Iraqis suffer from lack of basic services and high unemployment knew how to control the country.”
“And I say this as a son of the south,” he said, indicating that he is a member of Iraq’s Shia community, which along with the Kurds was the target of deadly oppression under Saddam’s rule.
It was for the 1982 killing of 148 Shia villagers in Dujail that Saddam was found guilty of crimes against humanity, a verdict that led to his execution by hanging on December 30, 2006.
That was “the day of the end of the head of the snake that reduced Iraqis to the rank of humiliated citizens”, said Khalaf Abdulsamad, a lawmaker from the Shia Dawa party which has held the Iraqi premiership since 2006.
Saddam countered dissent with prison, torture and death, started a disastrous 1980-1988 war with Iran, and invaded Kuwait in 1990, leading to years of punishing sanctions.
But his rule also offered stability, quality education, health care, employment and services for most of the population — commodities that have often been in short supply in the years since his fall. — AFP
Some love him, other loathe him