Job Security, Iraq-style

Saddam Hussein may have started his career as a bus conductor, but the possibilities for upward mobility were huge in Iraq. Although he cannot speak classical Arabic -- unthinkable even by the less than stringent job requirements for a Middle Eastern dictator, Mr. Hussein's position is rather secure. This is unusual in a region viewed as unpredictable by other parts of the world. Mr. Hussein is a major departure from a Bedouin sheik: He has outlawed Iraq's nobility and visited poison gas on his own people. But still his position is secure.

Minorities in Iraq have a history of siding with whoever is in control. Ethnic Christians are a good example, particularly in the northern region. They take their regimes as they come. Heroic rhetoric is rarely coupled with dangerous action. Much of the heroic posturing is a façade. Where suicide bombers and hostage takers are rife throughout the Near East, Iraq is happily free from such behaviors. Perhaps there is nothing of sufficient profundity to spur on desperate acts. Perhaps few in Iraq have found anything more valuable than life; even life under an oppressive dictator. The result is that Mr. Hussein seems secure from internal threat.

Sycophancy is currently a virtue in Iraqi government. The chances for social mobility are now more curtailed, firmly attached to absolute loyalty to Mr. Hussein. Baghdad bus conductors now must harbor other aspirations.

James Clark

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(c) 2002 Millennium Relief & Development Services, vol. 2 no. 33
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