] When we finally made it to Safwan, Iraq, what we saw was
] utter chaos. Iraqi men, women and children were playing
] it up for the TV cameras, chanting: "With our blood,
] with our souls, we will die for you Saddam."
]
] I took a young Iraqi man, 19, away from the cameras and
] asked him why they were all chanting that particular
] slogan, especially when humanitarian aid trucks marked
] with the insignia of the Kuwaiti Red Crescent Society,
] were distributing some much-needed food.
]
] His answer shouldn't have surprised me, but it did.
]
] He said: "There are people from Baath here reporting
] everything that goes on. There are cameras here recording
] our faces. If the Americans were to withdraw and
] everything were to return to the way it was before, we
] want to make sure that we survive the massacre that would
] follow as Baath go house to house killing anyone who
] voiced opposition to Saddam. In public, we always pledge
] our allegiance to Saddam, but in our hearts we feel
] something else."
]
] Different versions of that very quote, but with a common
] theme, I would come to hear several times over the next
] three days I spent in Iraq.
]
] The people of Iraq are terrified of Saddam Hussein.

Crankymessiah: Interesting to see something like this on an Arab news site.

ArabNews: Exclusive: 'Terrified of Saddam Hussein'