When Detroit Gave Saddam Hussein a Key to the City

In 1980, before he became one of America's most notorious enemies, Saddam Hussein received one of Detroit's highest honors: a key to the city. The presentation wasn't made by some rogue city official acting alone—it was arranged through official channels and reflected a moment in history when U.S.-Iraq relations looked very different.

The Chaldean Connection

Detroit is home to the largest population of Chaldean Christians outside of Iraq. In the late 1970s, Saddam Hussein—then Iraq's vice president and rising strongman—made substantial donations to Chaldean churches in the Detroit area, reportedly totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Reverend Jacob Yasso, a prominent Chaldean community leader and pastor of Sacred Heart Chaldean Church in Detroit, traveled to Iraq and met with Hussein. Impressed by the donations and seeking to maintain good relations with the Iraqi government (which still had significant power over Christians in Iraq), Yasso arranged for the city to honor Hussein.

A Cold War Calculation

The timing matters. In 1980, the United States viewed Iraq as a potential counterweight to revolutionary Iran, which had just taken American hostages. The enemy of my enemy, as the saying goes. Hussein hadn't yet invaded Kuwait, gassed the Kurds, or become the face of American military intervention in the Middle East.

The key presentation reflected this geopolitical moment:

• Iran was America's primary concern in the region
• Iraq was seen as a secular bulwark against Islamic fundamentalism
• Hussein's brutality was either unknown or conveniently ignored
• Local ethnic communities maintained ties to their home countries

An Honor That Aged Poorly

By 1991, when U.S. forces were driving Iraqi troops out of Kuwait, that key to Detroit became a profound embarrassment. Reverend Yasso, who had arranged the honor, found himself in an awkward position. He later claimed he regretted the decision, though he defended it as reasonable given what was known at the time.

Detroit never formally revoked the key. Unlike some cities that have ceremoniously taken back honors from disgraced figures, Detroit simply let the matter fade into uncomfortable obscurity.

Not the Only Awkward Key

Detroit isn't alone in having presented keys to figures who later became controversial or infamous. Cities rarely investigate recipients thoroughly, and keys are often given for political expediency or community relations rather than moral standing. The Hussein key just happens to be one of the most dramatic examples of how geopolitics can shift.

The key presumably still exists somewhere—a small metal reminder that today's ally can become tomorrow's enemy, and that civic honors sometimes don't age well.