The Plight of Iraq’s Progressive Labor Movement

http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?story=20071004074205743

The Plight of Iraq’s Progressive Labor Movement

Written by Dan Read
Wednesday, 03 October 2007

Abdelhussein Saddam

Like many people who lived under the Baathist dictatorship, Abdelhussein Saddam passionately yearned for change. Born in 1957 in Basra, Saddam became known as a progressive thinker, for which he was imprisoned for two years by state security forces. When the US/UK coalition invaded Iraq in 2003, he understood that the future lay within Iraq’s ability to organize itself independently – free of both the gun-toting hypocrisy of western imperialism and the machinations of political Islam.

In 2006 he joined the Iraq Freedom Congress (IFC), an organization created to push for a progressive and secular alternative to foreign occupation and sectarian violence. Saddam soon became valued for his organizational and leadership abilities. Within a year he was given command of the Safety Forces, which had been established as a grassroots alternative police force for local areas.

He became a popular personality who could often be seen training with those under his command. As a well known activist both before and after the western invasion, Saddam had accumulated a great deal of respect within communities in Basra and Baghdad. This made him the ideal choice when the IFC looked for a public face: he was elected to the organization’s Central Council.

As the IFC grew in strength and popularity, it made enemies – enemies which made themselves known last July 4th when Saddam’s house was assaulted by US soldiers. After blasting their way inside they fired on both Saddam and his eighteen year old daughter, wounding them both. Within minutes the dazed and bleeding IFC leader was dragged outside and bundled into a waiting vehicle, which sped off toward an unknown destination.

His daughter subsequently underwent hospital treatment and was able to relate the night’s events to family members and colleagues. Two days later, Saddam’s lifeless body was found at Yarmouk Hospital. An examination of the corpse revealed that in addition to suffering a gunshot wound, he had been badly beaten, with a combination of the two leading to his death.

This attack, which is tantamount to a political assassination, has been condemned by the IFC as a "criminal act." The IFC stated that the "assassination of Abdel Saddam Hussein by US forces will not discourage the determination of the Iraq Freedom Congress and will be a new impetus to continue the struggle to rid Iraqi society from all types of terrorists."

As usual, the declaration has fallen on deaf ears in the west. There has been something of a media black-out regarding any developments in Iraq that involve Iraqi people deciding how they wish their future to unfold. This attack illustrates the extent to which occupational forces will go to quell any groups that oppose the established regime.


FULL story at link.

What a shame being party to eliminating such a leader.