Sacrifice for Saddam? Not This Time Around

By Scott MacLeod/Cairo

Ah, what a romance it was! From Morocco to Bahrain, many Arabs a decade ago would practically swoon as they described their adoration of the man who defied America during the gulf crisis. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was the valorous knight, defender of the Arab cause. Arab nationalists debated whether he bore a closer resemblance to Bismarck or to Saladin. In widespread pro-Iraq protests, the refrain in the streets was "With our blood, our souls, we will sacrifice for Saddam!" Some Arabs even swore they saw the face of Saddam on the surface of the moon.

While Arab public opinion is running strongly against a new American war on Iraq, there are few such tender embraces of Saddam these days. Protesters stress their support for Iraq's people but, conspicuously, not its leader. Al-Jazeera, the most widely watched Arab satellite TV channel, emphasizes criticism of American policy instead of flogging Saddam's line. What apologists there are for Saddam cast him as a victim rather than a hero. Meanwhile, more Arabs are finding the courage to speak out against him. "We want to end the terrible silence and break the false image that Arabs are all behind Saddam," explains Lebanese democracy advocate Chibli Mallat.

The region is still bracing for a fresh wave of anti-Americanism should war come, especially given existing anger over U.S. support for Israel in its struggle with the Palestinians. However, it is a common view in Arab capitals that public resentments could be contained if the U.S. assault is surgical and swift. And if the U.S. does choose war, Washington's Arab allies--despite a lot of preliminary balking--are almost sure to offer support in one form or another.

Saddam achieved his mythic proportions largely by casting the 1991 war sparked by his occupation of Kuwait as an epic showdown with America and with Israel, which he dragged into the conflict by launching missiles at Tel Aviv. He still has followers, notably among Palestinians who love his implacable opposition to Israel and appreciate the cash he doles out to families of suicide bombers. But 13 years later, it's hard to ignore the fact that apart from the Scud attacks on Israel, Saddam's military campaigns have always targeted fellow Muslims--Iranians, Kuwaitis and even Iraqi Kurds and Shi'ites. Arabs are also more aware of Saddam's tyranny, thanks to the Internet and Arab satellite channels, information sources that did not exist during the last gulf crisis.

As the sense of inevitability about war grows, the region's leaders have begun to abandon their fellow head of state. Normally cautious Saudi Arabia has been publicly brandishing a knife at Saddam, pushing an initiative that could provide him an escape--voluntary exile--but is aimed more at provoking his overthrow by promising potential coupmakers amnesty from war-crimes prosecution. "I can visualize elements of the regime turning away," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told TIME.

Likewise in Jordan, King Abdullah II is pushing the slogan "Jordan First." Jordan's standing with the U.S. was badly hurt by the country's tilt toward Saddam in 1991, and Abdullah has signaled he will not repeat that cycle. In Egypt, officials are busy telling reporters that while President Hosni Mubarak opposes a war, he has absolutely no time for Saddam. In a scathing commentary headlined THE MADNESS OF BAGHDAD and written by editor Ibrahim Nafie, the government daily al-Ahram blamed future chaos in Iraq on the "megalomania of some in Baghdad."

More than ever, prominent Arab writers and activists are openly expressing opposition to Saddam without fear that they will be seen as American puppets. Earlier this month, 31 of them signed an open letter published in major Arab newspapers calling for Saddam's dismissal or resignation to avert a war. The signatories, who included the Palestinian-American writer Edward W. Said, described Saddam's rule as "a nightmare for Iraq and the Arab world."

In 1991 Fuad al-Afghani, a souvenir seller in Amman, made a fortune on Saddam's popularity. He reckons he sold 50,000 items, such as Saddam wristwatches and Scud lapel pins. Last week, as he stood in a shop brimming with copper trays and Bedouin rugs, al-Afghani said he would not be touting Saddam trinkets this time around, not with Jordan's government frowning on the Iraqi President. Al-Afghani still admires the man, but he figures, "Why give myself a headache?" It's the kind of sentiment that signals a romance is breaking up. --With reporting by Amany Radwan/Cairo, Matt Rees/Jerusalem and Simon Robinson/Kuwait City

With reporting by Amany Radwan/Cairo, Matt Rees/Jerusalem and Simon Robinson/Kuwait City