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Six years after the invasion, Iraqis recall with grief the scene when Saddam's statue in Baghdad was pulled down by US marines. |
BAGHDAD — Six years after the fall of the capital to US forces, many Baghdadis who once celebrated the ouster of Saddam Hussein and cheered the American "liberators" are now lamenting the good old days.
"At the beginning, the fall of Baghdad meant for many Iraqis the end of suffering, the end of a prison that Saddam Hussein imposed on all of us under his regime," Lattifah Muhammad, a 39-year primary school teacher, told IslamOnline.net.
Like many Iraqis, the mother of three still vividly remembers when Saddam's statue in the central Firdous Square was pulled down by US marines on April 9, 2003 in a scene that symbolized the downfall of regime.
Many cheerful Iraqis then swarmed over what was left of the 20-foot statue and danced in joy.
"We turned our backs to Saddam government during the invasion, and after the fall of Baghdad, US troops did the same to all of us," laments Muhammad .
"Today I see that Baghdad and its residents were much happier."
Ala’a Abdel-Kareem, a 46-year-old shopkeeper, also remembers the unforgettable day.
"I remember sitting in my sofa watching in the television the fall of Baghdad," he recalls.
"I was happy and celebrated with my family as if I had gained a million dollars. But this happiness didn’t go far," fumes the father of five.
"Soon we realized that it was better living under a dictatorial regime than under a US command."
Tens of thousands of Iraqis thronged Baghdad on Thursday, April 9, to mark the sixth anniversary of the city's fall, demanding the immediate withdrawal of US troops.
New Baghdad
For many, the new Baghdad where they live is nothing of the city they knew six years ago.
"I miss old Baghdad when I was able to go and sit by the lake without being worried if a bomb will explode or someone will kidnap my children," said Muhammad, the mother of three.
Iraqis have seen their lives sliding from bad to worse since the invasion, as the country remains gripped by violence.
Some two million people are believed to have fled the country to escape the violence.
Many streets in Baghdad are now closed with huge concrete barriers, and American tanks are driving across the city 24 hours a day.
"Iraqis became very vulnerable after the fall of Baghdad," complains Abdel-Kareem.
"Our city that was seen as one of the most beautiful Arab capitals, turned into nothing else than a battlefield where innocent civilians were dying and no one cares about them."
Not only insecurity.
Baghdadis fume that many life essentials became a luxury in their capital while infrastructure remains in tatters.
"Baghdad is inside a bottle where the cover is the security. If you take away this cover, soon you will find out that it will explode," says Omar Abeer, an aid worker working for a local NGO.
"It is terrible to live in a city like this but it is our destiny for welcoming US troops six years ago."
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