Posted on 07/01/2004 8:37:20 AM PDT by TexKat
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Saddam Hussein stands accused of gassing Iraq's Kurds, crushing its Shi'ites and condemning thousands to death in his dreaded torture chambers, but some Iraqis still want him back as president.
"I don't know why they are trying Saddam. He is guilty of nothing," said Ahmed Abdallah, a student from Baghdad's Sunni Muslim Adhamiya district, once favored by Saddam.
"If it were up to me, I would bring him back as president today, not tomorrow."
Downcast but defiant, a thinner Saddam arrived at a courthouse in handcuffs and chains on Thursday to hear the charges against him.
The images, the first since U.S. forces found him hiding in a hole near his home town of Tikrit in December, stung the pride of some Iraqis who saw his public disgrace as a slap in the face for all Arabs.
"He was a president, an Arab leader. I feel all Arabs are humiliated when I see him as a prisoner like this, no matter what he did," said Faleh Jasem, a driver who was watching the first footage of Saddam facing an Iraqi judge.
"I would feel so hurt if they executed him, because he took a heroic position. He stood up to America and that makes him a real man in my eyes."
"HE WILL ALWAYS BE IN OUR HEARTS"
Many Iraqis want Saddam to be executed, some say they would rather he suffer a more protracted punishment for 35 years of Baathist brutality that saw Sunni Muslim Arabs favored at the expense of the Shi'ite majority and the minority Kurds.
Iraq's interim government is considering restoring the death penalty, suspended during the U.S.-led occupation, but those who benefited from his rule hailed him as a strongman who only crushed bad apples.
"Saddam was our president and we were happy with him so who are these infidels to take him away?" said Hana Majid, whose eldest son lost his job as a senior officer when the United States dissolved the army after last year's war.
"All those people in mass graves were just rabble who deserved everything they got."
In the first step toward a trial that may not start for months, Saddam was accused of suppressing Kurdish and Shi'ite revolts after the 1991 Gulf War, massacring Kurds, killing religious leaders and political figures over three decades.
"The Americans are punishing Saddam for standing up to them," said Mohammed al-Sammaraei, who runs a music shop in Adhamiya, where pictures of the former ruler still take pride of place in some living rooms.
"Under Saddam, I used to work in the government. Now I am sitting at home," said Abdallah, another Adhimiya resident who declined to give his full name.
"Saddam was a part of us for 35 years. He will always be in our hearts," he said touching his chest.
I'm sure there are thousands who were on Saddam's payroll who wish he was back in power.
MOST IRAQIS WANT SADDAM'S HEAD!
"all of those people in mass graves were just rabble who deserved everything they got."
What a cold hearted _itch. I dare her to say this to the families of those "who deserved what they got"!
Well, some folks want Clinton back, too.
Is this guy sure that pain he feels in his chest, is not from a dagger?
Newsflash: Someone else is going to decide who deserves what from now on.
""All those people in mass graves were just rabble who deserved everything they got."
You just have to wonder about the Arabic mindset.
Before I clicked on the thread, I somehow knew it was a Roooooooters hit-piece.
MSNBC ran it too. :(
And some Iraqi's don't wash their hands before dinner. So what?
These kids sang songs about him since they could talk. Of course they are going to think he is God.
Liberal Press NUT CASES.
This evil murder man is not president but dictator in full of evil. Irak must destroy that by death. I hope new Irak would not listen to legal experts but their justice that belongs to them. I heard that there is french guy who will protect sadam if that is true, french will again get hit and I hope one day France will understand their days are gone. They are little kid trying to play big kid. Sorry France, true heroes are born from fire, not from being cowards.
Isn't that sickening?
I would like George Washington back as President too. It's not going to happen.
And scary to think someone's conscience could be so seared as to care more about personal pride than the murders, tortures, rapes, and maiming of their brethren.
Maybe 2%, tops. .001% really liked the guy, and the remaining 1.999% say it strictly out of fear and habit.
I'm not saying that the sample is biased or anything, but I hear that a majority of shredder salesmen, attack dog dealers, and acid pool installers feel the same way.
"Saddam Hussein stands accused of gassing Iraq's Kurds, crushing its Shi'ites and condemning thousands to death in his dreaded torture chambers, but some Iraqis still want him back as president. "
Not surprising. Here in America, Michael Moore, Howard Dean, Dennis Kucinich, Katie Couric, John Kerry, Peter Jennings, Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather, Terry McAufile, Nancy Pelosi, Maxine Waters, all think exactly the same thing.
Just ask them....any of them.
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