By Diary Marif, New Age Islam
11 November 2021
Iraqis
Did Not Fight to Earn Daily Food during Saddam’s Rule, But They Tried to Have
Freedom and Liberty, While Nowadays, People Have Neither Freedom or Food
Main
Points:
1. Saddam and his party Baath
caused her to suffer for several years?
2. I wish I could see Saddam
Hussien in power again to kick these thieves (the Kurdish leaders).
3. Made her turn a blind eye
to what the Kurdish authorities did.
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Former Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein, shortly after
his capture in 2003, in a screenshot from a YouTube video uploaded December 17,
2016. (Photo courtesy: Times of Israel)
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The other day I phoned my mother regarding
her sickness and family updates. Unlike other times, she did not mention her
health instead of started talking about my younger brother, Adam, and his plan
to go to Europe as he is tired looking for a job and the fact that his friends
already left the country, “I wish I could see Saddam Hussien in power again to
kick these thieves (the Kurdish leaders). I pray to God that they would have
the same fate as Saddam's.”
I was shocked! It was the first time she
criticized and disliked the authorities. She always strongly supported the
Kurdish leaders in Iraqi Kurdistan and respected them unconditionally. Some
questions came to my mind: how did she change her mind? What made her wish
returning the former dictator, Saddam, to power, while Saddam and his party
Baath caused her to suffer for several years?
When I was in Iraq, I discussed with my
family, friends, and acquaintances the brutality and immorality of the Iraqi
Kurdish leaders. My mother was one of those people who always showed her
loyalty to the leaders, especially the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) because
she was internally wounded and had a miserable life during Saddam Hussein’s
regime (1979-2003). Her two younger brothers, who were the KDP Peshmerga were
killed by former Iraqi forces in the middle of the 1980s when they were in
their 20s. She lived in undergrounds, a turkey barn, and many other
inappropriate places during the wars and bombardments for days and months. My
parents were interned in the camps like many villagers. Those horrific events
and many more made her turn a blind eye to what the Kurdish authorities did.
“What horrible things happened to us in the
past was because of the Kurdish political parties. We fed and protected them in
our village till the Batth regime ravaged the villages and took us to the
camps. “My martyr brothers fought for the KDP. Your father escaped, and we
became homeless because he refused to fight against the peshmerga. But we were
wrong. We should not have done it.” Many mothers like mine sacrificed their
life and lost their sons, brothers, fathers, and relatives for the sake of the
Kurdish leaders. They were so delighted and celebrated when Saddam Hussein’s
forces withdrew from Kurdistan in 1991. They hoped the Kurdish government would
bring them a new life and ease their long-time trauma, but in the end, dreams
and hopes came to fruition.
I am
wondering why she wished for Saddam’s era while she went through difficulties
during his reign, and she loved the Kurdish nationalist leaders. “We never
thought the leaders would lie or betray us. During Saddam’s power, there were
many basic amenities like food, water, gas, medicine, and other stuff. People
were safe and had jobs equally. But The leaders and their relatives become rich
and rich while the ordinary people jeopardize and risk their lives to earn a
living.”
My mother’s comments reveal that through
Saddam’s reign the Iraqi citizens did not have freedom of speech and freedom of
expression, but they were often safe if they didn’t support Saddam’s opposition
militias. They did not fight to earn daily food, but they tried to have freedom
and liberty, while nowadays, people have neither freedom nor food. The former
Iraqi regime could protect its citizens from neighbouring countries' threats,
but under the Kurdish leadership, Iran, and Turkish forces attack and bomb
Iraqi Kurdistan now and then. It’s completely frustrating to praise the
brutality of Saddam’s authoritarian power, but the Kurdish parties do worse
than Saddam.
My mother does not know much about what is
going on in Kurdistan because she is an uneducated person. She has no social
media to get news. She lives in a remote village and does not see many people
to get updates. As well as the previous generation, she loved Kurdish
authorities, but she is now upset with them.
Let’s just mention the new generation’s
life quickly. After completing their studies, they have no job and no sources
of income. Due to technological progress and social media, they know what is
happening everywhere in the country or abroad. They see all the inequality in
Kurdistan, and they compare their life to the children and grandchildren of the
leaders?
To
cite an example, my brother, Adam, studied for many years and started working
when he was 14, but he is jobless now like his friends. My brother is older
than Areen, the son of the Iraqi Kurdistan prime minister, Masrour Barzani, who
has company and has hundreds of thousands of dollars, while thousands of young
boys and girls do not have a hundred dollars. My brother is 24 which is the
same age as Idriss, the son of the president of Iraqi Kurdistan, Nechirvan
Barzani. Without having any certificate, the young Idris is the president of a
famous university, Kurdistan. He is the manager of one of the richest charity
foundations, Rwanga and has several companies, while many young boys graduate
in grade 12, but they are not accepted by any university. Despite working hard,
my brother is leaving Kurdistan for Europe to survive, while the sons and
grandsons of the leaders, who lived in Europe and North America returned to
Kurdistan to monopolize everything similar to their fathers and grandfathers.
The inequality, injustice, and gaps between the classes in Kurdistan are too
obvious, which was never seen during Saddam’s era. That's why my mother reacted
so badly to the Kurdish authorities.
When I was a child, my mother prayed to God
to destroy Saddam Hussein for his brutality and atrocities. After three
decades, I heard the same prayer but this time against the injustice, savage,
and corrupted Kurdish leadership.
“I am sure they will overthrow, but I wish
I could see that day.” It’s been several days, and I still have mixed feelings
about my mother’s wishes. I would be so excited if she could see the Iraqi
Kurdish leaders sentenced in court. On the other hand, her wishes to return to
Saddam’s regime frustrated me.
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Diary Marif is a Kurdish political
and non-fiction writer. Marif has an M.A. in History, India. His writing has
appeared in the Awene weekly, Lvin, KNN TV, and other outlets. He recently
published Non-fiction in English. He is currently based in Vancouver, Canada.
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-human-rights/saddam-hussein-iraq-kurdistan-kurdish/d/125750