Sons of Iraq or Sons of Saddam?

Some Iraqis are still fighting for Saddam, even though Saddam was hanged more than two years ago. They say they will sacrifice themselves for Saddam, but they actually sacrifice poor Iraqis trying to survive this difficult life in Baghdad.

This video is of Adil al Mashhadani, taken in Fadhil before his arrest. Fadhil, a Sunni-dominated neighborhood of Baghdad, has been an insurgent stronghold since the beginning, and for the last couple of years these guys have called themselves the "Sons of Iraq" and have been collecting their salaries from the US. After watching this video, I understand more why Maliki's team is reluctant to hire them.

Mashhadani says in the video "Iraq is our Iraq, not the government of Maliki..." and goes on to praise the Ba3ath and Saddam. Read more at Talisman Gate. Nibras writes in "...And he was supposed to be one of the 'reconcilable' ones":

'The crowd begins by shouting "Cheers to the resilient Ba'ath". Mashhadani then gives a pep talk saying that Iraq belongs to the youth of Iraq and "at their head is the Martyred Leader Saddam Hussein."

Then there's a funny, carnival-ish bit with a trumpet, concluding with the crowd shouting "With our souls, with our blood, we will [relinquish them to you] Oh Saddam." Mashhadani finishes up with a line of poetry: "We the youth will climb the scaffold [to be hanged], and for the sake of the Ba'ath and Saddam we will never waver."'

On March 29 Nibras Kazimi wrote: "Mashhadani was one of Al-Qaeda's point guys in eastern Baghdad, responsible for countless numbers of deaths. The Americans thought it wise to hire him, and trot him out to reporters, without mentioning what he had done."