Iraqi who tried to topple Saddam statue regrets it

10 years later, man famous for trying to bring down statue with sledgehammer regrets that Saddam is gone.

US marine watches as statue of Saddam Hussein falls 370  (photo credit: reuters)
US marine watches as statue of Saddam Hussein falls 370
(photo credit: reuters)
Kadom al-Jabouri, who became famous 10 years ago for trying to topple a statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad with a sledgehammer, now tells the British Observer he regrets that the dictator was ousted because of the chaos that followed.
Jabouri tried to bring down the statue by chipping away at its stone base. It eventually was pulled down with the help of a US tank carrier.
He told the Observer he hated Saddam but was disappointed with the aftermath.
“Then we had only one dictator. Now we have hundreds,” he complained.
“Nothing has changed for the better.”
Jabouri spent 11 years in Abu Ghraib prison under Saddam after demanding payment from Saddam’s son Uday for fixing his motorbike, according to the report.
The time in jail is what led him to seek revenge and try to tear down the statue.
He blamed the current situation on the US.
“The Americans began it,” he told the paper. “And then with the politicians they destroyed the country. Nothing has changed. And things seem to get worse all the time. There’s no future. Not as long as the political parties running the country are in power.”