In Saddam’s time we used to whisper about Al-Dujaile, we all knew that a massacre happened there, but we didn’t dare to ask about the details and I never met any one from there. Now I can know all about it from my new friend and here it is, in his own words:

-"Al-Dujaile is my home town, I always looked at it as god’s heaven on earth......

- Date: 7/8/1982, Saddam decides to visit the village, the Ba’ath party in the region prepared the people to make a big reception, they took us out of the schools (I was 7 years old). They made us line in a row on both sides of the road to wave for him and cheer his name. It never occurred to me that it would be my last day in the childhood world. I was forced to skip that period of my life with such cruelty that I can not explain.

-17 of the finest young men in the village had decided to put an end to the tyrant’s life at that day, they had the courage to face him, we didn’t know about their intention. The brave men set an ambush among the palm trees, they couldn’t tell which car was his, there were dozens of cars, all identical in model and color.

-The attack starts, the brave young men open fire from their simple weapons, some of the body guards get killed, others wounded, the tyrant get panicked, imagine that (Saddam is afraid) the man who enjoyed terrorizing people lives a moment of fear with all its details, he was so close to death this time. 8 of the attackers were killed, the rest fled out of the country.

(Woe to the sinners) who dared to make him scared, you should fear his revenge, you should learn the lesson so that it won’t happen again, you should bow more and more and fear more and more, you should be scared to death so that you don’t dare even to think of harming him; the shadow of god on earth.

-The answer was fast, one hour after the escape of the tyrant, we had to face his anger, I heard the sound of helicopters over our heads wreaking their vengeance upon our small village, backed later with shovels that leveled the trees with the ground, the order was clear(the terror should be great) so that the others would learn.

The women and children had their share, and this is what saw: extraction of nails and teeth, electric shocks, whipping with lashes, using razors to tear the skin into shreds, my aunt was left hanging from the roof after her clothes had been wrapped of her in front of her brothers to force them to talk. Do you know how much pain we suffered? Can you imagine? I doubt it.

Date: 4/9/2003, I can’t believe it, the tyrant falls, is it a dream? Does it mean no more fear, no more terror, and no more death? We jumped into the streets wreaking our vengeance on his pictures and statues that surrounded the village he raped in a dark night. The towns and villages expelled him and expelled his name

..WE WERE SAVED.

I took a deep breath, the air had the scent of freedom, nothing can be more beautiful, it’s difficult to describe, but we were overwhelmed by happiness, with only one distress: where had our beloved ones gone?

We started to search the security departments in Baghdad - like thousands of Iraqis - looking for a trace, I didn’t take a long time, we found what we were looking for. The documents of the crime, I read with tears in my eyes; the presidency order dated: 7 /23 /1985, signed by the tyrant, ordering the execution of 143 men from Al-Dujaile, the youngest one (Najeeb Abd Kadim) 11 years old. Among these, 35 were relatives of mine.

My friend surprised me saying ”we don’t regret what happened, and yesterday, when the nine remaining heroes returned to Iraq, we met them with flowers, as the heroes of all the Iraqis, and we will never blame them, as they’re the ones who kept our chins up.”

This is what peace looked like in Iraq at Saddam’s time.

The battle is not over yet, the evil and cruel criminals are every where, and they will not rest until they kidnap our dreams, but this time we’re stronger, as we are not alone. The whole good and brave people on earth took it upon themselves to fight with us, we hate wars and all the bloodshed that comes with them, but we have no other choice.

Let us all dream of a world of love and real peace.