REAL WORLD EVENT

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On October 19, 2005, Saddam Hussein will attempt to defend himself in Baghdad courtroom against the first charges levied against him: crimes against humanity carried out in Dujayl, Iraq in July of 1982. The deposed President of Iraq faces the death sentence for his unconscionable response to an assassination attempt against him while he visited the village.

Though Saddam faces more than a dozen full-scale court hearings for his hand in murdering and suppressing thousands of people, the Iraqi Special Tribunal chose the Dujayl massacre as the first matter to be tried because the event is so well documented. The Tribunal has reviewed more than two million documents and interviewed 7,000 witnesses to the crime. Armed with a wealth of information, officials feel the likelihood of a conviction in the Dujayl massacres is high, a relief to families who have waited more than two decades for their story to be heard.

In July of 1982, Dujayl is a small, thriving village 35 miles north of Baghdad, a town of Shiites unhappy about Saddam Hussein’s military infiltration into Shia Iran. Preachers in Dujayl make clear that the residents must lead a revolution against Saddam Hussein, and a band of radicals scheme a stealthy plan of attack for the president. The opportunity is nearing: Saddam Hussein is coming soon to greet the people of Dujayl.

Hussein, scheduled to make an appearance with the villagers, will issue a speech to gain support for his military infiltration into Iran. Behind the scenes, sources tell of a village woman working with the revolutionary group in Dujayl. As Saddam’s convoy heads to the village, the woman presents Saddam with a sheep she has slaughtered in his honor. Vowing her allegiance to the president, the woman brushes Saddam’s Mercedes with the bloody sheep, leaving a bull’s eye for her accomplices ahead.

But Saddam, like most dictators, is paranoid. He changes vehicles, and the marked car no longer leaves him a marked man.

Throngs of villagers flood the streets of Dujayl as the entourage makes its way through the streets. Saddam exits the vehicle to greet the crowd, even entering the home of one family. He kisses the children; he smiles for the mothers. When a woman offers Saddam a glass of water, he politely refuses—reportedly for fear of poisoning. But the danger will not come from within the homes of Dujayl. Saddam will come under attack in the open streets.

As the convoy heads out of town, the palm groves on the north side of town come alive. 19 villagers fire small-arms at the blood-stained vehicle, killing several of Saddam Hussein's bodyguards, but missing the target. In a show of defiance, the president orders the motorcade to turn around.

Saddam Hussein comes back to Dujayl and gives an impromptu speech, praising the seemingly supportive villagers and scoffing at the attack. But on his way out of town, villagers encounter a very different Saddam. Angry, he stops the convoy in front of various groups of men. They pledge their allegiance to the president; they beg for his approval; they attempt to explain they are not the men in question. Saddam leaves Dujayl, but leaves some of his bodyguards behind to interrogate the people.

Just hours later, a rumor circulates that President Hussein has arrived again. Dujayl residents flood the streets to see if it’s true. According to witnesses, more bodyguards have returned, men who begin to shoot indiscriminately through the crowd. 15 people are killed instantly. Panicked citizens seek refuge inside their homes. They can hear helicopters flying and firing around the area where the would-be assassins hid. There is an announcement: the village is under an immediate 24-hour curfew.

In the hours and days that follow, 143 more villagers are killed in “show trials,” public executions that paralyze the innocent community. It also lends sinister foresight into the future of the entire town.

Two days later, residents are told via loudspeakers that the curfew has been lifted, and that those who are missing relatives should go to the Baath headquarters to claim the corpses of their loved ones. It is a ruthless trap. When the villagers arrive, they are arrested and moved to detention centers in Tikrit, Baghdad, or along the Saudi Arabian border. 1,500 people will spend years in captivity and some will be executed in a final death toll that is still unknown.

Saddam Hussein’s vengeance extends to the land itself. In Dujayl, houses are razed, date-palm groves and whole fruit orchards are bulldozed through, and the village is burned. What few residents escape death or imprisonment are left homeless in an impoverished land that will never fully recover.

In the years to come, Saddam Hussein’s ruthlessness will expand to all corners of Iraq, where his clutch of tyranny and oppression will leave the nation—like the fields of Dujayl—scared for all time.