In Sunni Triangle, Loss of Privilege Breeds Bitterness

Washington Post ^ | 1/13/04 | Daniel Williams

[saquin]

HULUIYA, Iraq -- Less than a year ago, Ismael Mohammed Juwara lived high in the food chain of President Saddam Hussein's Iraq. He was a secret policeman feared and respected among his comrades and in his hometown, enjoying a cornucopia of privileges from the government.

Now, as he scrapes out a living by selling diesel fuel illegally, he is a pariah in the new Iraq. "We were on top of the system. We had dreams," said Juwara, a former member of the Mukhabarat, the intelligence service that reported directly to the now-deposed president. "Now we are the losers. We lost our positions, our status, the security of our families, stability. Curse the Americans. Curse them."

[...]

When he married, the government supplied him and his wife with a bedroom set. Soon after, he received a free plot of land and a home-construction loan, which was converted into a grant when the second of his nine children was born. He bought cement at cost from a government warehouse.

[...]

When Juwara bought a refrigerator, he went to a market set aside for secret police families and got it at a discount. He drove a Peugeot supplied by his unit. During the past decade of economic sanctions, he received extra rations. Now, he said, "we cook beans left over from before the war."

[saquin]

Oh, cry me a river.

[expatpat]

He's lucky he's still alive!

[McGavin999]

The guy can't get a job with the government but that doesn't mean he can't get any other job. His problem is he can't do anything and isn't smart enough to figure out a way to make a decent living without screwing people. I understand they are going to be opening some factories there soon, maybe he can get a job as a janitor.

[FormerACLUmember]

That tiny sound you hear is the world's smallest violin playing for this Islamofascist scum.

[Just another Joe]

Frequently referred to as Baathist remnants or dead-enders, they are resentful and unwilling to accept their lot quietly. For that, they make no apologies.

He's not apologizing for all the harm he's caused to the other people of his country either.

I agree, cry me a river.

[Arkinsaw]

The dude, and those like him, are all upset over not getting cement at cost or cheap refigerators so they are going to go out and get themselves killed by US troops. They ain't so smart.

[DarthMaulrulesok]

"......"Hear that, my Iraqi secret policeman, sorry, former secret policeman and now full time loser? That's the sound of the world's smallest violin playing "my heart bleeds for you".

sarcasm mode off.

Let him go find an honest job. Right now Iraq is an enterprising citizens dream. There are plenty of oppertunities in virtually all fields. Let him be an honest teacher, or farmer, or any one of a hundred other things, if, that is, he shouldn't be on trial for war crimes or crimes against the Iraqi people.

And, let him be thankful every day that he is not dead or permanently maimed/crippled like so many of the victims of his former employers.

[Maynerd]

Why is this punk still alive? There must be a family member of some poor victim of this dirt ball who wants to pop this Nazi wannabe.

[Fledermaus]

The Sunnis sound like Democrats.

[q_an_a]

The Post does not see the sickness of interviewing the people that put people into mass graves? what kind of sick people are they?

[SkyPilot]

This just breaks my heart! Sniff.

[SkyPilot]

Besides his economic woes, Juwara expressed deep feelings of humiliation.... "You know what they told me? 'You are from Thuluiya. You are a dog. Go and ask Saddam for the money,' " he recalled. "A few months ago, they would never have treated me like that. They wouldn't dare."

Wiping away a tear as I type....