Almost 25 years ago, the cause of our current military sacrifices in Iraq was the very source of life for a small Chaldean-Catholic church in Detroit. What might possibly be known as the largest proverbial "foot-in-mouth" was about to occur. In 1979, Rev. Jacob Yasso of Chaldean Sacred Heart, after congratulating Saddam on his presidency, was given $250,000 for his church by the Iraqi leader. A year later, Saddam invited Yasso and more than 20 parishioners to Baghdad as guests of the Iraqi government and then gave the church another $200,000 to help it out of debt. On this trip to Baghdad, with the permission of then-mayor Coleman Young, Yasso gave Saddam the key to the city of Detroit.\n Reporting on the incident, CBS News spoke with Yasso, who remembers Saddam to once have been a kind man. \n"He was very kind person, very generous, very cooperative with the West. Lately, what's happened, I don't know," Yasso, 70, said Wednesday. "Money and power changed the person."\nThere was a time when the United States felt the same way. In the 1980s, Iraq and the United States were allied in their mistrust of Iran, which held hundreds of Americans hostage under the regime of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. We never gave him the key to any city, but we did arm him with many a missile and train many a soldier. We did give him the power to then begin a reign which now we are attempting to obliterate.\nLike Yasso, we were intoxicated by Saddam's generosity. We gave aid and Yasso took his money without a second thought, and today we are paying for it -- a pattern in American history. Need we remember Noriega and Pinochet? \nWas Saddam ever worth befriending? Those who he never regaled with gifts do not think so. Nadhim Franco, a 66-year-old Chaldean Sacred Heart church member, doesn't remember such a bright side. Out of fear he fled to the United States.\n"When he became president, I leave everything and run away," Franco said. "I came here. I was dishwasher. I came here; I was happy."\nAs we search for chemical weapons and attempt to take out the Republican Guard, we think the citizens of Detroit would like their key back. Instead of sending troops, we urge Detroit to consider sending its own task force to retrieve its beloved possession. While the tomahawk missiles may hit their mark, no one hits harder than former Detroit Piston Bill Lambier. Kid Rock, Dr. Kevorkian (bringing new meaning to the term "suicide bomber") and Ted Nugent, all noble Detroitians, will instill fear in the heart of Saddam and send him packing.\nAnd while we may laugh at the notion of the perennial "murder capitol" going to war overseas, we cringe as we are made the butt one of the greatest jokes, the mis-judgment of character by Yasso, Mayor Coleman and our own government's part. Unlike our soldiers and the Iraqi people, we should consider ourselves lucky enough to still be able to play the fool.
-- Andrew Lemar and JP Benitez for the Editorial Board
