* 3 min read
“And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake” Mark 13:13
It feels like Jesus said it now to us, and not 2,000 years ago. It seems like a prophecy gets fulfilled many times during history and not only once. Apparently it has no expiration.
First of all, I must say the following: I have been a direct beneficiary of the invasion of Iraq in the form of job opportunities as a linguist contractor. Second, I have deep respect for all the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the “mission” in Iraq. I mean no disrespect. In fact the opposite. It is for their SAKE, and the sake of Christians who have suffered by the hands of ISIS, I am writing this blog. I feel all 10 years worth of American and Iraqi lives lost have been wasted. The American investment is bankrupted in Iraq now.
Lately, I find myself on an emotional roller coaster. I am thinking about a dictator whom I hated for 17 years, and now I feel I owe him an apology. I have a deep emotional and mental struggle inside me about this. I cannot believe myself for having feelings of guilt for hating him. I feel I owe him an apology for hating him. I used to express my hate for him publicly, and now, I am publicly saying…
I am Sorry Saddam Hussein. And, “Thank You” for doing me the biggest favor in my life…
I am saying “sorry”, because I question whether he was right on his policy in dealing with Iraq. Maybe he was the right person protecting Iraqis from the tsunami of evil that flooded Iraq. I remember back in school, I was taught that: “Iraq is the Middle Eastern Gate”. I didn’t understand it then. Now, I do!
Approximately 10 years ago in Chicago, I was involved in a big verbal fight with someone for his stand in defending Saddam’s actions and policies in Iraq. I stood my ground and I was passionately arguing against Saddam’s position. The fight was so bad, I ended up calling the FBI on him. (True Story!)
In July 2014, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) commanded that all Christians convert to Islam, pay taxes, or leave Mosul – an Iraqi Sunni province that has collapsed. They have burned all the churches, raped Christian women, and took possession of Christian properties. They are raping women in their homes in front of their families in the name of ALLAH/God!
Sadly, my voice and feelings mirror most of the educated, elite, and many more Iraqis (Christians and Muslims). I am writing this blog from Iraq. I interact with Iraqis from different levels of society, even those from Shia’s stronghold of Sadr City. The current government’s policies, lead by PM Nori al-Maliki for the past eight years and more, have made people long for Saddam’s days. The majority of people are now comparing Saddam’s days with current days, and saying there were better off under Saddam. A nation that suffered under Saddam’s regime is now longing for his days. All in the name of the “Price of Democracy”.
The current government of Iraq has people cursing their lives and the day they born in Iraq. People have witnessed actions by Iraqi politicians far beyond Saddam’s actions. The level of corruption, bribery, and abuse of power by all Iraqi politicians has BY FAR surpassed Saddam’s level. The new “democracy” has given birth to a new breed of “politicians” that has made a dictator, an angel compare to them.
Here are a few examples, including: The son of an Iraqi minister of transportation, missed his flight in Beirut, Lebanon. His father forced the Lebanese airline to return to Lebanon from Baghdad by not allowing the plane to land in Iraq without his son. And the reason for that was: “He was late half an hour and the plane should have waited for him.”
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/03/06/uk-lebanon-iraq-plane-idUKBREA2519Z20140306
ISIS Militants Order Iraqi Females to Undergo Genital Mutilation
ISIS Destroys Jonah’s Tomb In Mosul, Iraq, As Militant Violence Continues
I am extremely disappointed by the silence of Obama’s Administration on the topic of Christian persecution in Iraq. It seems Mr. Obama is more concerned about NOT offending Muslims than of defending Christians. I was expecting him at least to acknowledge it publicly. Muslims around the world have condemned such action, but NOT our President. What a disgrace!
During my work in Iraq around 2006/7, I remember informing an American Army two-star general that we (Americans) should go and ask Saddam for advice. Saddam was being held prisoner by American forces. Iraqis wanted him back to put him on trial to execute him. Iraq was at the highest level of sectarian violence and civil war.
And NOW…After 11 years, Iraq was better off during Saddam’s regime.
I can imagine Saddam alive now looking at us and saying to us: “Do you miss me now?” …”Was I right in how I handled Iraq?”
What a shame to see American weapons and Abrams tanks used by ISIS now. What a shame!..What a shame. And, probably will be used against Iraqi people.
And what was his favor to me?
It was because of his actions that I never understood before, that made me leave Iraq and go to America. Because in a million years, I will never go back and live in Iraq again. He saved me from living under this tsunami of evil. Maybe, it takes an evil man at the gate to stop the flood of evil!
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Ninos Youkhana 
Well said Ninos! Well, I have other comments about the invasion and the silence of the president but im sure you know what they are anyway. I agree with every single point you made, it would have been a million times better if Saddam was still alive and in control. He had these people in check!
Thank you Walita!
It’s sad, this administration has a lot to answer for. What do you expect from a POS that released 5 terrorist? One cannot help wonder if Sadam was in the way, prehaps trying to overthrow and kill him was a way for Obama to get his way. Pulling out the US troops, giving ISIS all the armor they needed to do what they are doing today. All paid for by the American tax payer. What is worst is the allies were deceived as well, so Obama could accomplish his own agenda. We all know who the problem lays with. But it is the American people that need to make a stand against the real perpetrator.
Correct…and thank you for your comment Claudia…
You imply Iraq was in any way the doing or ambition of the Obama administration when the damage was long since done under Bush. Iraq was a mistake then, and it was with the blessing of hawkish republicans shouting “anti-american” at anyone who disagreed with the invasion that he did it.
I am with you on everything you have mentioned except missing the days of saddam’s era. He is the cause of the evil action going on in Iraq. As a president he should have protect and treated his people equally. He should have changed the country for better and bot for the worse. I am saying because I lived under his regime rulings for years.
Let’s get one thing straight: Saddam was a criminal megalomaniac, paranoid dictator who bankrupted his wealthy country and committed terrorist acts on his own people. He is not to be looked at in a positive light, period. Might as well call a rapist a hero because he didn’t murder his victim when he had a chance. Had he have exercised more reason and wisdom, America would have lacked an excuse to invade and we would be looking at the Middle Eastern version of Norway or Namibia. Your logic is flawed: He INSTIGATED this entire mess. Supporting a criminal – now that’s unacceptable to say the least.
This blog reminds me of this quote:
“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely” – Lord Acton, 1887
Very True…
Saddam was a dictator and criminal he is the cause of the evil action going on in Iraq.
I don’t think anyone understood the protection and safety the Christians or Iraqi’s in general had under the Saddam’s Regime simply because we have struggled throughout to find peace. I do agree that now we know the future and would take the lesser of the two evils hands down. I grew up in the states but have read and heard of the horrific stories of rap, murder, torture as well as the discrimination under the Saddam but nevertheless, the Christians were protected against any up rise’s in the country. I guess we liver and learn and Saddam was not the evil we needed to be protected from. The Assyrians who are the indigenous people of Iraq have never been given a fair chance to live life peacefully. They’ve always been caught in midst of every situation but we continue to fight for freedom faith and only God will prevail us from the situation to give us the peace we long to see in the future. Good piece.
Thank you very much for your comment!
Ooh my god finally finally people understood him that he was not so evil as how to show him to the public… He was better than many people … Your blog is really helpful.. Becoz when all that massacre was happened then I was only in 6th standard and from that time I been so curious that why all that was happening… Why just on the name of oil war.. Or nuclear or something else… So till now I am not totally understand this theory actually and truly… Who was true Americans or Saddam Hussain… But yeah I always felt that he deserve more respect becoz very few people on this earth who faced such these things so bravely.. Still I dnt know my thinking is right or wrong but it’s emotional
Saddam was a dictator, yes I lived in it, but the the whole Iraqi history and whole Mideast is dictatorship. It has no freedoms and millions have been murdered because the regime considers them to be false religions. Worse, the regime America brought us is a new and much worse dictatorship. Nuri Al Maliki, Moqtada Al-Sadr, Ammar Al-Hakim in Baghdad, and Masoud Barzani in Kurdistan. All of these men dedicated their lives to killing Iraqis and serving foreign powers like Iran and USA to achieve this. These are Iraq’s rulers and their goal is to destroy and exploit Iraq like was Bush’s. Unlike Saddam, they are not patriots, they are not leaders, they do not care for Iraq, they have done nothing to build up Iraq.
You are Assyrian and Christian, right? After 2003 and before ISIS invaded Iraq already almost 90% of Christians from Iraq were killed and driven out. Every refugee I met had family members killed by the government’s police and militias like Badr and Dawa and Jaish Al-Mahdi or they were kidnapped and later found to have been tortured and killed in government prisons. Their crime? Being infidels to a hateful Islamic terrorist dictatorship. I witnessed this in Iraq and among the refugees when we ourselves left the country. Other terrorists like Al Qaeda did hurt the Christian community, but nothing like the government did which had all the weapons, men, and legal authority to do anything it wanted including this genocide. They slaughtered Sunni Arabs, Sunni Kurds, Sabeans too in southern and central Iraq, in Kirkuk, in Mosul.
Saddam was very popular when he was alive and after his death. He is the most popular leader in the Arab world and most people see him as a hero and legend. He is respected in most other countries. People outside of Iraq do not know who Hadi Al-Amiri is or who Nuri Al-Maliki. These ruling sectarian tyrants and servants of the mullahs of Iran are already forgotten and they’re not dead.
Like most governments in the world and in Saddam’s case more justified than not ruling a country full of erratic tribes and foreign supported terrorist groups, he was sometimes repressive. You may not know this but after the invasion of Kuwait, many twistings and lies were created about him. Name any of his oft-repeated atrocities, and it either was done by Iran as investigations originally proved, is twisted and exaggerated to be a near-fiction, and the originator is always a terrorist organization legitimized through US government lies and media and orgs working with them. At the same time, they ignore his great successes in building Iraq, developing Iraq, defending Iraq, making it the destination of millions of visitors, workers, students, professionals, and others.