April 9th 2003 - 20 years ago, American forces march triumphantly into Baghdad. Their first task - to take down the statue of the former Iraqi dictator - Saddam Hussein. Kadom al-Jabouri, a local Shiah Iraqi had been one of the first to strike the statue with his iconic sledgehammer.
The event depicted America's success in defeating Saddam's oppressive regime. The apparent "droves of Iraqis" participating in the statue's collapse, the American flag covering the face and the symbolic noose around the statue's neck, appeared to celebrate the end of a tyrant. After some 30 years of authoritative rule, the Iraqis may well have believed freedom was on its way.
Yet the pictures and the event were theatrically staged to suggest lraq had finally been "liberated". The crowd mostly consisted of journalists or US servicemen from the nearby international hotels and the sledgehammers and U.S flags were provided by the armed forces.
The toppling of Saddam's statue wasn't the end to a short war as news outlets presented it as, in fact, it was the beginning of a long one. From this moment onwards, ignorant American policy making, along with its disregard for the lives of the middle East, allowed Iraq to descend into a devastating civil war. A civil war which gave birth to some of history's most despicable extremist movements and a civil war which prevented Iraq from obtaining its long-awaited freedom. In the end, the U.S invasion of Iraq in 2003 would culminate in the deaths of up to 2 million people.
The common phrase I was told during my 10 day stay in Iraq had been that Saddam provided "stability and safety". While of course Saddam had been a ruthless dictator like many in the past, his authoritative rule disallowed the rise of opposing factions and terrorist organisations such as Al-Qaeda and ISIS.
However, the U.S did the opposite of maintaining stability, it had not only completely disbanded the Iraqi army along with the police force, but it had also created its own downfall by buying off rebels and insurgents in order to apply a cheap fix to the unrest that was worsening. The U.S had created a power vacuum that resulted in looting and total anarchy.
The U.S decision to falsely imprison thousands of civilians under the desperate pretext of neutralising opposition to its occupation, had in of itself provided a breeding ground for rebellion. Rather than liberating the Iraqis from Saddam's oppressive rule, the U.S had inadvertently continued Saddam's legacy, even to the extent of continuing the function of Saddam's former torture prisons, using identical torture methods.
The entire war had just been a PR stunt. "Invade first, worry about the rest later" was the backdrop to U.S policy making. Therefore it was inevitable that America's decisions would plunge Iraq into this dark chapter.
While one must condemn Saddam's strict rule and his suppression of the Kurds and Shiahs, such strict rule was not only necessary in preventing an Iraqi collapse (As would be witnessed after 2003), but was also expected in a region plagued by the hand drawn borders of the British. While Saddam's rule had its pitfalls that must be criticised and challenged, it is undeniable that his rule will nevertheless be anchored into the timeline of Iraq. Saddam's legacy will be remembered by Iraqis for generations to come, for it reminds them of a time they were proud of their nation.
"I dreamed for five years of bringing down that statue, but what has followed has been a bitter disappointment. Then we had only one dictator. Now we have hundreds. Under Saddam there was security. There was corruption, but nothing like this. Our lives were protected. Then there came the killings, robberies and sectarian violence. I toppled Saddam's statue, now I want him back" - Kadom al-Jabouri, Sledgehammer man
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