Word: saddamized
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...city was very quiet. It was almost eerie. The first thing I did was look for friends of mine who I had known from before the war. These are people who lived for years in a state of terror, a state of fear. That was living in Saddam Hussein's Iraq. They had become so used to hiding their feelings and watching their words that it took them a while even after Saddam was gone to express themselves properly...
...reaction to American military presence The first weeks after the war were incredible. Once people got over the shock, once they had come to terms with the idea that Saddam Hussein was really gone, was not coming back, the sight of American soldiers in the streets, at checkpoints, American tanks and armor rumbling along the city. That was reassuring. In the months and years to come, those would be seen as signs of oppression and occupation. But for those first few weeks, these were reassuring signs. It meant that if there were American tanks in front of the presidential palace...
...where these people were coming from. I think they felt that this was their opportunity to take from the government. Yes, there was some basic criminal urge with some people, but for a lot of people it was a sense of vengeance. They couldn't get their hands on Saddam Hussein. They couldn't get their hands on the Baath party commanders who had oppressed them for so long, so they would steal the furniture. They would take the air conditioning. They would set fire to government buildings. It was their way - in a sort of peculiar...
...America's lack of political strategy [Military leaders] had assumed that they would turn up in Baghdad, Saddam Hussein would be overthrown and there would be a group of Iraqis waiting to take over. Some of them would be these exiles ? and others would be Iraqis from within and that there would be a smooth transition. But there wasn't. There was complete chaos. People were looking for a way out of the chaos and the Americans didn't have any better ideas than the average man on the street...
...life after Saddam We had a really bad situation before our infrastructure was demolished, but after 2003, it was chaos. There was no rule of law. After 2003, everybody's wearing a mask. After 2006, nobody is wearing a mask, they just do whatever [they want], they're not afraid of anyone. You don't have to work [as a] humanitarian actually. You're living in crisis, you find your way out and just survive it. In Iraq, you have to provide electricity, water, everything for yourself...