Fearing Revenge, Hussein’s Militia Forces Lie Low and Deny Hurtful Role

BAGHDAD — Not too long ago, members of the black-uniformed militia called Fedayeen Saddam were patrolling the streets of this city, searching for draft dodgers and shooting at U.S. Marines. Dana Jaf was among them.

He is 21, a short, sturdy Kurd with slicked-down black hair and a bearing of youthful pride. But these days he shifts his glance anxiously, peers over his shoulder and quietly insists that it -- the regime -- forced him to be in the militia.

“I was not relieved to join them, not my family or myself,” he said as he walked the streets of his neighborhood Tuesday, fearful that someone might overhear his conversation. “But I was forced to join them.”

For the nearly three decades that Saddam Hussein held power in Iraq, he relied on many thousands of foot soldiers like Jaf to maintain order. Many say that the regime ruled through fear, and it was the men and women of the secret police, the intelligence service, the militias, the ministries and the Baath Party who served as the enforcers of that fear.

For their efforts, including their willingness to report on neighbors, they were granted a privileged status that conferred money, schools, jobs and access to the best commodities.

But the perks disappeared with the president, while the memories remain. Now they are afraid that the men and women they informed on, jailed and tortured will seek retribution. So far there have been few incidents, but the possibility grows more probable by the day. Looters have taken the files of the security services, and in time they will discover who was responsible for what. Names will emerge, informers will be identified, and tempers will undoubtedly flare.

So Jaf and those like him are keeping their heads low, denying their support for the regime and hoping they are accepted back into society.

“No one has ever chased me, because I was a simple Fedayeen,” Jaf said. “I didn’t want to fight. I wanted to live.”

Sheik Mohammed Bakr Basri, 31, a Shiite cleric, is trying to help his community after decades of totalitarian rule. He says he is committed to stopping revenge attacks and helping re- integrate former security agents into the community. He asked three men to meet at his mosque in western Baghdad to discuss their changing roles in society.

The first, he said, was Ahmed Hussein Abbas, 45, whom the sheik identified as a longtime member of the intelligence service. Abbas is a barrel-chested man with a shock of white hair and a stony demeanor. He denied being an agent of state security, instead claiming that he was a colonel in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and was responsible for public relations.

But he was also defensive and laid out a case as to why agents of the state should not, now, be punished.

“I would like to say of this, it is a sensitive thing,” Abbas said. “We worked for the Iraqi state, not a person or the regime. Everyone was doing his job and his task for the Iraqi state.”

The sheik also introduced two men he said carried out security activities for the ruling Baath Party, activities that also meant they were spying on their neighbors. Mohammed Ali Hussein, 54, and Jafa Sadik Mohammed, 46, admitted to having been in the party but insisted they only helped people.

All three men complained about the collapse of the system and the loss of control. “The fear in the hearts of the people is gone, so now there are only mobs,” Abbas said.

These men have the sheik working to bring them into the community. Jaf is on his own, so he has crafted a story about his service that absolves him of responsibility and guilt.

He says it began in November, on a Saturday, the one day he had off from his job as a waiter. Local Baath Party members came to his home and forced him to go to a military training camp of what Hussein called the Al Quds Brigade, a paramilitary group ostensibly assigned to help “liberate” Jerusalem from the Jews.

“I would like to tell you everything, “ Jaf said. “I have nothing to hide.” But in an interview, he didn’t mention earning 50,000 Iraqi dinars for his trapshooting skills, which he has acknowledged to others in recent days. Nor did Jaf talk about the way he helped nab a draft dodger, an opponent of the regime and a car bomber. He did note that cash bonuses were awarded to those Fedayeen who nabbed so-called enemies of the regime.

Base pay for a new Fedayeen, he said, was 40,000 dinars a month -- at least double the typical government salary -- and 100,000 for more experienced fighters. The most committed loyalists were also awarded plots of land for their efforts.

But even after laying out some inside information on the Fedayeen, Jaf insisted his connection to the group was limited. He was given an assignment and a rifle and told to help defend Baghdad. On the day the war began, he said, he had civilian clothing beneath his uniform.

“When I saw the bombs start to fall, I knew the regime would be over.”