Arrest spurs sales surge in Iraq cards Locals comment on Saddam news

BANGOR – The Ace of Spades is now in the hands of the U.S. military.

Saddam Hussein – the trump card in the “Iraqi Most Wanted” playing card decks that were distributed to U.S. soldiers stationed in Iraq earlier in the year – was captured on Saturday.

On Sunday, a version of the “Iraqi Most Wanted” cards were flying off the shelf at the Dollar Zone in the Airport Mall, said manager Irma Parent.

“One lady just came in and bought 15 packs,” she said. “They aren’t going to last long.”

The Dollar Zone started carrying the cards several months ago, according to Parent.

U.S. Department of Defense officials created the cards to help service members identify members of Saddam’s regime. The Pentagon issued the “Personality Identification Playing Cards” in the spring.

While Christmas shopping at the Bangor Wal-Mart, two area residents took time to show their relief that Saddam was captured.

Old Town resident Marion Young-Talon said her husband, Mike Talon, informed her Sunday morning that Saddam had fallen into U.S. hands.

“We were both shocked and happy at the same time,” she said. “We knew he was out there.”

“Now we just have to look out for the other [wanted] people,” she said. “This could go on forever.”

The best part of Saddam’s capture is the hope that tensions in Iraq will ease.

“Iraq needs a lot of help to rebuild,” said Young-Talon. “Before this, they [Iraqis] couldn’t say what their true thoughts were because he could have been listening.”

That fear should subside when the news of Saddam’s capture spreads throughout Iraq, said Sgt. Gabriel Rios, recruiter for the Maine Army National Guard.

“I think the public now will be a lot more outspoken because they won’t have to worry about repercussions,” he said. “I’m very hopeful the violence involving the terrorists will actually calm down now that they captured Saddam. The main objective was to take Saddam Hussein out of power.”

Rios is the recruiter for Alpha Company, 133rd Engineering Brigade, nicknamed the “Gators.” The company is based in Belfast and Skowhegan and is scheduled for deployment to Iraq in January.

Rios was at Wal-Mart helping out with the Toys for Tots campaign.

Orono resident Ken Stathopoulos said his hope is the capture will put a stop to the suicide bombers and other terrorist attacks and “get more people on our side.”

“I’m not surprised he got caught in his hometown,” he added. “Now I want them to get bin Laden.”

The former Iraqi president is now being held at an undisclosed location and apparently put up little resistance when captured.

Since the release of the 55-card deck of “Iraqi Most Wanted,” many of the key figures in Saddam’s regime have been captured or killed.

Saddam was captured alive by U.S. forces during “Operation Red Dawn” late Saturday in Iraq in a camouflaged cellar or “spider hole” at a farm 10 miles south of Tikrit, his birthplace.

Qusay Saddam Hussein, Saddam’s second son who led the feared Iraqi Security Service, died with his brother Uday Hussein on July 22 after a gun battle with U.S. forces. The two men had been hiding in a villa in Mosul.

Anyone who is interested in seeing a copy of the cards can check them out at the Defense Department’s Web site at www.defenselink.mil.