Today is the ninth anniversary of a landmark events — the toppling of Saddam Hussain's statue by the Americans at Al Firdaus Square in Iraq. I was fast asleep when my daughter woke me up; she was crying and laughing at the same time. It was April 9, 2003, around 6am Amman time, and our country, Iraq, was being liberated from the 35-year-rule of the despotic Baath party regime.
The streets were empty according to the CNN broadcast. The CNN crew themselves were wandering around in the vicinity of the Baghdad Meridien Hotel in the Alwiyah district, unbelievably. All Iraqi checkpoints were empty, and one could see from a distance a US tank or two. People were waving frantically. Former president George W. Bush had promised those troops that they would be welcomed with flowers; instead, they were received with small cups of Iraqi tea, sweets and the unique Iraqi flat bread which they would come to enjoy following nearly nine years of their stay in Iraq.
Watching Saddam's statue in Al Firdous Square being dragged to the ground was a sight to behold. True, there were thousands of other statues, murals and portraits of the dictator all over Iraq, but if this one were to be toppled symbolically, the domino effect would be Eid, Christmas and Easter all wrapped in one.
Looking back after nine years, I still can't believe that Iraq is Saddam-free, and I don't think any Iraqi will ever forget the earthly inferno he turned his nation into. Another rude reminder emerged only last week in the southern Maysan governorate (Umarah) when a new mass grave was found. The shocker was not the mass grave itself, for after 400 mass graves that were dug by Saddam's regime, which dotted Iraq from north to south, these graves have ceased to surprise anyone. But the amazing thing in this new one was that the men buried in their army fatigues were actually fighting for Iraq against Iran, only to be buried by the regime in uniform without so much as a prayer.
Today, I cannot help but wish we Iraqis had revolted and toppled Saddam and his despotic regime ourselves. But don't get me wrong, despite all that is said and being circulated today regarding Bush, many Iraqi Arabs and Kurds feel that a statue of gold ought to be made for this man in Iraq, for without him — regardless of his reasons and motivations — Iraq may well have been ruled today by Saddam's mentally unstable older son, Uday.
Sadly, Iraqis did not do that. Instead we are still fighting among ourselves for power and authority.
Road to recovery
A rich country with a budget of over $117 billion (Dh429.39 billion) for this year, Iraq's streets still look like a big dustbin because most of the money is going down the corruption drain.
Today, Iraq's political leaders are trying to showcase the country as a safe and secure place after the US military withdrawal in December, a move which shocked the world because no one imagined America would actually leave.
Iraq is definitely safer today than what it was before 2007, and it is also safer than a year ago. Al Qaida is much weaker but it is not completely destroyed.
Al Qaida will finally be put into its grave when Iraqi politicians decide to put their differences aside and act as a united body.
Is Iraq stable yet? Is its infrastructure functioning? Has it been rebuilt? Is it on the road to recovery? Is there any hope for a country with so much oil wealth?
Post-American Iraq remains unstable, deeply sectarian and a yard away from authoritarianism under the veneer of democracy.
Many Iraqis — Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds alike — fear that the US withdrawal has given Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, a Shiite Islamist, free rein to consolidate power and turn himself into a strongman.
If Al Maliki is able to control the country with a strong but fair fist, re-build it, control the scandalous corruption of key officials and low-level employees alike, restore electricity and make Iraq stand on its two feet again, then so be it.
Under a strong and focused leader Iraq will flourish, for it is the same Iraqis that re-built the country in less than six months after the ‘mother of all battles', where the leader was a tyrant but the leadership was united.
Iraq needs a strong Al Maliki to overcome its current situation and move towards a better tomorrow, a conclusion sadly reached by many people after nine, long, blood-drenched years.
