To the Sunni minority, pushed from power by the American invasion and giving vent to their frustration with daily attacks on the Shi’a population and their holy sites, Saddam will remain a hero for a long time to come. The Kurds – who, like the Shi’a, were victimized by Saddam for decades – quietly cling to their de facto independence in the north, making sure that they will never again come under Arab rule.