Stories like this one, where Iraqis say in interviews that they'd take a murderous dictator over murderous chaos used to be common. This one is particularly striking:
Saddam Hussein was hanged for killing 148 Shi'ite men and boys in Dujail in 1982. But today, some people in this town on the Tigris say they miss life under the Iraqi dictator because they felt more secure.
"If someone like Saddam came back, I'd not only support him, I'd invite him to dinner. My uncle was killed in 1982 in the Dujail incident. Still, life then was a million times better than now," said Saad Mukhlif, a Shi'ite.
Nostalgia for Saddam and his Sunni-led government in this largely Shi'ite town mirrors a country-wide sense of frustration despite a drop in attacks and killings.
U.S. military officials say violence in Iraq is at four-year lows but militant groups stepped up attacks for the holy month of Ramadan, and the country still suffers chronic shortages of water, power and other basic services.
Another chilling take on Hussein came from a boy on his way home from school: "Saddam didn't kill anyone without a reason," said 14-year-old Ahmed Ali Ahmed. "Now these bombs just attack everybody. Everyone says it, Sunni or Shi'ite. Life was better under Saddam."
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