CPTnet
June 9, 2004

IRAQ REFLECTION: An army of listeners

by Greg Rollins

I grow uncomfortable when people rudely and forcibly tell me what to do.
Therefore, the other day when an Iraqi woman bluntly started telling CPTer
Stewart Vriesinga and me that we needed to spend all our time gathering
stories about the cruelty of Saddam's past regime, I turned her off. Yet, in
many ways this woman was right. Even though he has fallen, Saddam is still
an issue here.

     For well over twenty years, the people of Iraq suffered incredibly
under Saddam. They suffered so much that many Iraqis cannot move on. The
stories about Saddam's regime are nothing new to the rest of the world. At
times, the U.S. used them to support their reasons to attack. We have all
heard how Saddam used chemical weapons to kill thousands of Kurds in the
north. People often disappeared under Saddam's regime (including women his
son found beautiful.) He waged a war against Iran for eight years that
killed millions, and he mutilated or killed many Iraqis who refused to fight
in that war.

Almost every Iraqi has a grotesque personal story that needs to get out.
However, Iraqis who hate Saddam speak in two different voices: that of the
victim and that of the survivor.

I have noticed that when a victim speaks of Saddam's atrocities, his eyes
grow intense. His brain locks so he does not hear anything anyone says to
him. In his anger he yells his story, and for that time there is nothing
else in the world but him and what Saddam did to him.

     The survivor tell his story a different way. Despite his painful
memory, he is open and calm. Sometimes in his narrative, he will smile and
laugh at what happened. He refuses to suffer Saddam any longer, but he still
has his hurt.

     It will take time for the people of Iraq to heal. Perhaps seeing Saddam
put on trial will be the first step toward it, but it certainly will not end
there. All those who helped perpetrate his crimes will have to face justice.
Whether or not this happens will not be up to the rest of the world but to
Iraq. (The U.S. has already stated it is up to the new Iraqi government is
to prosecute Saddam.)

In the meantime, the Iraqi woman who talked at Stewart and me is right; the
people of Iraq are looking for others who will listen to them. They no
longer need an army of soldiers from the Coalition countries, but an army of
people who will listen.