Iraq: 20 years after the US invasion, Baghdad residents bitter

2023-03-20T01:10:42.441Z

It was March 20, 2003: 20 years have passed since the US intervention in Iraq. The people of Baghdad remember it, many of them bitterly.Iraq: 20 years after the US invasion, Baghdad residents bitter Audio 01:24 A portrait of Saddam Hussein hangs from the burning building of the Ministry of Transport and Communications in Baghdad on April 9, 2003. AP - JEROME DELAY Text by: RFI Follow 2 min It was March 20, 2003: 20 years have passed since the US intervention in Iraq. The people of Baghdad remember it, many of them bitterly. Advert

Iraq: 20 years after the US invasion, Baghdad residents bitter

Audio 01:24

A portrait of Saddam Hussein hangs from the burning building of the Ministry of Transport and Communications in Baghdad on April 9, 2003. AP - JEROME DELAY

Text by: RFI Follow

2 min

It was March 20, 2003: 20 years have passed since the US intervention in Iraq. The people of Baghdad remember it, many of them bitterly.

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With our correspondent in Baghdad, Marie-Charlotte Roupie

A few hundred meters from where the huge statue of Saddam Hussein stood 20 years ago in the bustling Karrada district, Ezzet, a spice seller, is very bitter when he thinks back to the last days of March 2003. "I don't feel like it's been 20 years. In the last 20 years, what has changed? Nothing changed, they just overthrew Saddam Hussein, that's all," he said.

Ali, a street fish seller, is in the same frame of mind. "At first, we thought good things would come out of it. Nothing beneficial has been brought to the population: no infrastructure, no construction, nothing," Ali said.

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« I wish we could go back to the old regime »

While they all remember March 20 as a traumatic day, the consequences of the U.S. invasion are not perceived by everyone in the same way. Zeinab sees only chaos after 2003. "I wish we could go back to the old regime, now corruption is everywhere, there are thefts and vandalism," she said.

Duaa does not regret the old regime of which her family was a victim. "Of course, it's positive. We have been freed from a dark period. Even if the current situation is not ideal, it is still better than what we had before," she said.

Since the fall of Saddam Hussein, twenty years have passed, marked by wars, terrorism and internal conflicts. The new regime in Iraq is still trying to find its balance.

Iraq: 20 years after the US invasion, Baghdad residents bitter

Iraq: 20 years after the US invasion, Baghdad residents bitter

« I wish we could go back to the old regime »

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