Children chant "with our blood, with our souls, we sacrifice for you Saddam" at Hussein burial site

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Iraq marks one year since Hussein's execution



BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Iraqi security forces were on high alert Sunday around Baghdad and in the Sunni heartland north of the capital as the country marked the one-year anniversary of Saddam Hussein's execution. Iraq army Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi said security forces were "ready and prepared for any emergencies that might happen."

In Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, hundreds of people and school children visited his burial site to pay homage and lay flowers. Some gave fiery speeches while others just stood quietly by the tomb in a large mausoleum in the Tigris River village of Ouja -- the small hamlet just outside Tikrit where Saddam was born.

Children chanted "with our blood, with our souls, we sacrifice for you Saddam," Associated Press Television News footage showed. The tomb was covered in Iraqi flags and flowers and flanked by large pictures of a smiling Hussein.

Hussein is buried next to his sons Odai and Qusai, who died in a gun battle with U.S. forces in a 2003 in the northern city of Mosul.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/12/30/iraq.alert.ap/index.html

[TwilightGardener]

1. Wouldn't it be awful if enough time passes that Saddam starts to

look like a victim and martyr of the US? I sure hope our troops are out before that happens.

[Anouka]

2. That's life. As long as the children were not forced

in their demonstrations, I don't think we should be surprised that they support Saddam Hussein. Everyone has their own opinion, even if others might feel it's the wrong opinion.

If the children were paid or threatened into making this demonstration -- now, that's a different kettle of fish.