On 35th anniversary of Baath, the only joy is at its demise

IRAQ: For decades Saddam Hussein's Baath Party held lavish celebrations in Iraq every July 17th to mark the anniversary of the…

IRAQ: For decades Saddam Hussein's Baath Party held lavish celebrations in Iraq every July 17th to mark the anniversary of the 1968 coup that brought them to power.

But no speeches and no fanfare rang out in Baghdad yesterday as most Iraqis ignored the 35th anniversary. "This is the best July 17th I've seen so far because there is no Saddam and no Baath," said Fadil Amin, a translator.

"We're better off without them, even if we don't have any electrical power or water and security is abysmal."

Baathists were once widely feared in Iraq, but since the US- led invasion that ousted Saddam, they have been hunted down by Iraqis and the occupying troops' "de-Baathification" programme.

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The Baath Party, which Saddam used to rule Iraq during his 24 years in office, used to hold parades every July 17th, distributing sweets and staging support rallies where singers and poets performed. Baghdad's youth were rounded up at the party headquarters to take part in "spontaneous" rallies where they pledged allegiance to Saddam.

Cake and sherbets were also distributed - luxuries to many Iraqis impoverished by years of UN sanctions. Children born on that day received money and gifts.

Perhaps no one in Baghdad is happier to see the end of the Baath than the residents of the teeming Sadr City slum. Graffiti denouncing Baath cover many walls in the area once known as Saddam City and squatters and local Muslim clerics have taken over the party's two main headquarters. "If my finger was a Baathist, I'd cut it off," reads one spray-painted slogan. "Death to the Baath", proclaims another.

The mainly Shia population of the area suffered bitterly under the Baath administration which discriminated against them and brutally quashed uprisings in the 1990s. Residents say almost every one has lost a relative to Saddam or his Baathists and the desire for revenge runs deep.

A tone of weariness underscores the jubilation of most Iraqis at the demise of the Baath, testament to the crumbling economy, US occupation and raging violence in post-war Iraq.

"The Baath Party was bad in many ways but it was also good for security, cleanliness and jobs," said Sarah Abdul Samad, shooing away a cloud of flies from her vegetable cart. "They protected people but oppressed them. Now there is no alternative but the Americans, who don't care about us."