"In Saddam's time I never saw a friend killed in front of my eyes."

[sabra]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2470188_1,00.html

'In Saddam's time I never saw a friend killed in front of my eyes. I never saw neighbours driven out of their homes just for their sect. And I never saw entire families being slaughtered and killed'


Against a backdrop of spiralling violence in Baghdad, The Times persuaded six ordinary Iraqis to visit its bureau to describe their lives. Sunni or Shia, they all had a strikingly similar tale to tell


Saad Hassam
Street cleaner
Shia
Single
Age 23

http://images.thetimes.co.uk/TGD/picture/0,,368101,00.jpg

...

Saad’s dreams were dashed a long time ago. “We always say, ‘Inshallah, there will be a solution’, but realistically we can’t see any hope.” Would he like Saddam back? “Yes,” he says. “For many reasons. During Saddam's time I never saw a friend killed in front of my eyes, I never saw neighbours driven out of their homes just for their sect, and I never saw entire families being slaughtered and killed.”

Hamid Abed Muhammad
Baker
Shia
Married with three children
Age 38

http://images.thetimes.co.uk/TGD/picture/0,,368100,00.jpg

...

Hamid will not let his oldest daughter, aged 5, attend kindergarten after another child was kidnapped. He rejoiced at Saddam's fall, but now yearns for the security of that pre-war era. Iraqi society is wrecked, he says. “There is no solution. My children have no future. How can you build a better future for them when you’re struggling to survive each day?”


Anas Dawood
Office administrator
Sunni
Married
Age 28

http://images.thetimes.co.uk/TGD/picture/0,,368102,00.jpg

...

Would she bring a child into such a world? “Not if you were realistic and reasonable,” she replied. “But it’s part of our nature to want to have a baby.”

Muhammad Shati
Telecoms engineer
Shia
Engaged to be married
Age 37

http://images.thetimes.co.uk/TGD/picture/0,,368103,00.jpg

...

Saddam at least offered security, he says. “If you kept away from his regime you felt safe.” Today he is close to despair. “It’s grim, it’s bleak, but we have to survive this. We have learnt in Iraq to deal with reality and forget about hopes and imagination.”

[xchrom]

1. well this just says it all...

''forget about hopes and imagination.”

[tanyev]

2. It bothers me that the article used their photos and so much

personal information. I hope they don't pay a price.

[NNN0LHI]

3. Bush has succeeded in making Saddam look like a decent fellow by comparison

Only a sonuvaBush could have done this.

Don