Remembering Saddams crimes and building a new Iraq

A letter recently appeared in Tribune in which the authors argued that "beyond the removal of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi people have seen little good come from the war."

It reminded me of the question to the widow of Abraham Lincoln after his assassination at the theatre – “apart from that, what did you think of the play.”

Those six words - “beyond the removal of Saddam Hussein” – cover a multitude of sins. These sins include: the construction of a fascistic state in which all independent thought was crushed, unions banned and turned into the repressive apparatus of the state, thousands systematically murdered and genocide waged against the Iraqi Kurds.

A quarter of a million members of the Islamic Dawa Party including supporters and relatives were murdered. Nearly 200,000 Iraqi Kurdish men, women and children were murdered in the Anfal genocide.

And there were two external wars of aggression against Iran and Kuwait in which upwards of a million people died. Saddam’s Iraq also sustained suicide bombings and a hard-line policy against Israel.

My worry is that many people have either forgotten or simply don’t know about Iraq under Saddam. A little maths indicates that this will be a growing problem.; It is now 6 years since the removal of Saddam. People starting university and adult life were only 12 when this happened. Unless they delve deeper into history they will start their lives with a fragment of the picture and this will feed into political activism.

Tackling this memory hole and amnesia about the conditions that led to the intervention is now, I think, a key issue.

It is perfectly possible to understand that history and conclude that intervention was a worse option than various alternatives: a) maintaining the isolation of Iraq and sanctions to prevent the regime from becoming a dangerous and destabilising force in the region, b) waiting for biology to weaken the regime through the natural death of Saddam, though the danger that his even more psychopathic sons would inherit the “Republic of Fear” should also be weighed in that balance and c) waiting for an internal coup or revolution, although all attempts at this had been thwarted, brutally.

One thing is certain. Any exposure to the views and voices of Iraqis will help deepen the discourse on Iraq. Myself and others in LFIQ have been profoundly privileged to have visited Iraq in recent years, meet visiting Iraqi union activists and political leaders and to have a regular dialogue with Iraqis in this country.

They are divided on the events of 2003. Some opposed the intervention but are keen to move on and seek help for the project of building a democratic and pluralistic country. Others frankly welcomed the intervention as the only way of achieving the freedom to achieve freedom. They tend to unite on how badly the post-Saddam politics was handled and want to focus on building a future for Iraq.

Our first delegation to Iraq was composed of people who supported and opposed the military action. What struck us all was the widespread use of the term liberation in describing the war and that many thanked us for doing it. I say this not to open up the bitter debate about the intervention but as a matter of fact, which profoundly affected us all.

Few labour movement activists have been able or willing to visit Iraq in recent years. This is understandable. It has been a most dangerous place, apart from Iraqi Kurdistan where politically motivated deaths have numbered, I believe, less than 150 people and where security is tight.

As security continues to improve and as it becomes more and more possible to see the country and its people, without fear, there is a powerful argument for a major increase in labour movement and other delegations going to Iraq.

Political parties, unions, business organisations with relevant expertise and think tanks should examine how they can help Iraqis rebuild their country in an equal and mutually beneficial relationship with Iraqi partners. In this way life beyond the removal of Saddam Hussein can become one in which Iraq once again plays a positive role in the international community and its people can benefit from the undoubted material and intellectual wealth of a great nation.

Gary Kent

Sense not Sects

LFIQ Vice President Harry Barnes on his blog gives us the picture of the year from Iraq and quotes his favourite Iraqi blogger who says most people he knows were not voting based on sects, but on sense and hopes that a real democracy will be achieved in the land where the first laws of the human race were set.