But when asked about the recently captured Iraqi leader, she turns shy, and puts her head down on her desk.

But ask her how he treated her people, and the giggling disappears, her bright eyes narrow, and she gives a confident, one-word answer.

"Bad."

Like Hanen, many children in Sunnyvale's Iraqi community have grown up knowing Saddam Hussein as the evil man on television who imprisoned family members, executed political enemies and held the proud Iraqi people prisoner.

He was a real-life nightmare figure, who actually stole family members away in the middle of the night. And while he wasn't lurking underneath a bed or just out of view behind a curtain, his intelligence network had an ear in private phone calls and an eye on public displays.

And unlike a fantasy monster, he was on television daily, very much alive.

"Every time I see him on TV, something inside says 'Ugh, get away from me, I don't want to see you,'" Hanen's sister Majida said.

But some of those fears were relieved when Hussein was—literally—pulled out of the dark.

Majida Hashem, 17, said word of the former president's capture came in a 4 a.m. phone call from family members.

In response, her family, along with others from the Sunnyvale Iraqi community, held an outdoor festival to celebrate.

"We enjoyed our time when we heard the news," Majida said. "We were just mostly happy that our families are going to live in peace from now on."

But while there was celebration, Majida and her friends know the problems in Iraq, and the saga of Hussein, are far from over.

"It was hard having family [in Iraq], especially when he was president," Majida's sister Waad Hashem, 14, said. "Now that he's gone, there's less fear, but his people are still there."

Waad said she has family members who were imprisoned or forced into military service by Hussein's regime, and fear of his return to power has now been lifted. Even with that fear, she said she first had reservations about United States involvement in Iraq.

"I didn't think it was right to go in and take over," Waad said. "But after they caught Saddam's sons, I was happy [the soldiers] were over there."

While the girls have all grown up removed from the situation, they have not been spared details of the atrocities.

Duaa Alali said stories of torture, imprisonment, execution and other crimes against the Iraqi people were common in her house, instilling fear of Hussein's capabilities early on.

While nations debate the treatment of Hussein, the Hashem and Alali girls had their own ideas for what to do with the former dictator, ranging from life imprisonment to execution.

Majida said the most appropriate punishment would be life imprisonment.

"It's like what goes around comes around, that's the same thing he did to people," Majida said. "He should see how it feels."

Majida said the first priority in Iraq should not be vengeance upon Hussein.

"We shouldn't kill him. We should have a government first, then deal with that stuff," she said.

Majida also pointed out her gratitude toward all the American soldiers in Iraq who worked to bring down Hussein's regime and said she wishes she could apologize to all the families who have lost sons or daughters in military actions.

Majida added that she wished Hussein's downfall had happened years ago, to save more Iraqi people from fear and persecution.

"I'm not saying that they did it too late, but it should have happened a long time ago," Majida said, "to save more people, to give them a better life."

Failing to provide a better life for the people of Iraq is one of Hussein's crimes that bothers the girls the most. They heard his comments on television referring to the people of Iraq as "his people" and were quick to correct that statement.

"We are not his people, he never cared for us," Duaa Alali said. "If we were really his people, he would have let us have a normal life, a peaceful life, not torture and fear.