Even taking their names away
To stay alive, Iraqis change their names
BAGHDAD There was nothing out of the ordinary about the young man clutching a sheaf of papers at the birth certificate office, except for his name: Saddam Hussein al-Majid.
“All three of your names match his,” the clerk at the desk said with a laugh, referring to Iraq’s deposed leader. “That’s unbelievable!”
Hussein shrugged in exasperation. “What can I do?” he said. His parents had chosen the name, not he.
Now he was trying to avoid paying with his life for that decision. He wanted to change the first name on his birth certificate to Sajad, favored by Shiites. Hussein, a Shiite Arab, was all too aware that militiamen from his own sect might assume he belonged to the former ruling Sunni Arab minority.
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Bad enough we take their lives, resources and money. Now, we even force them to lose their names.
