Saddam as Ceausescu
The appearance of armed irregulars, still loyal to Saddam, parallels the resistance of Ceausescu's secret police, the Securitate, even after most of the army had turned on the Romanian dictator. But, as this account of the 1989 revolution explains, it's not as simple as regular army good, secret police bad. Lessons from the Romanian example: the deposition of a tyrant with multiple security forces is a mess, because there is no one military leader who can undercut the dictator; resistance can appear more organized than it is; they usually hide out in party headquarters and police buildings, rather than houses; watch out for snipers; and beware of over-reaction. Oh yes: you may have to kill the dictator on camera, and put a stake through his heart, before his loyalists finally give up, and ordinary citizens can finally feel free. One final guess: the worse the dictatorship, the less joyful the revolution. The inhabitants of Bucharest were so crushed by decades of harsh dictatorship, that they emerged suspicious of eachother, credulous of rumor, disorientated by the truth, seething with recrimination, and bitter, bitter, bitter. There will be nothing velvet about the Iraqi revolution. The December Revolt and the Coup D'Etat - 1989: Role Of The Securitate In The December Revolt And Coup#
