No Regrets in a Suburb Named After the Despot

Ironic that a Baghdad suburb named after Saddam Hussein is home to a population that vehemently opposes him. The residents of Saddam City belong to the minority Shia sect and live in poverty. The attack on Iraq has provided the residents with a much over-due opportunity to publicly denounce Saddam. For the poor in Saddam City, the attacks are also an occasion to celebrate, by mass lootings of material goods from mostly military and government premises. At least for some of the minority Shia Iraqi community, long suppressed by Saddam and excluded from state benefits, his toppling also presents an opportunity to finally join the globalized world and all that comes with it. As one Saddam City resident stated: "I want a satellite and a television. I want a mobile phone." --YaleGlobal.