Saddam surrender seen as cowardice

[leftward]

By Miral Fahmy
DUBAI (Reuters) - He swore he would go down in a blaze of glory, but experts say Saddam Hussein's humiliating capture by U.S. forces befitted the cowardly nature of a man who ruled by death yet loved life above all else.

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=422497§ion=news

[BenFranklinUSA]

1. Arab world disgusted on two fronts...

1) Saddam surrenders (not very admirable)
2) Saddam surrenders to US (further complicates their angst)

[pippin]

3. disgusted, but it won't make them love the US

any better. People don't generally love those who humiliate them . . .individually or collectively.

[SemperEadem]

17. so much for his jihad...

[Media_Lies_Daily]

18. It's no longer "his" Jihad...it's the Iraqi people's Jihad...

...have you noticed any lessening of the hostilities?

[aquart]

2. Of course it was cowardice. Who could see it otherwise?

He has shamed his people.

This man is not a factor of any kind anymore. No Iraqi can do anything but wipe him off his shoe.

His sons were monsters, but they fought. Even his grandson fought to the death. Saddam dishonored them all.

[ze_dscherman]

4. Public medical examination was a good PR stunt

Invading the body of the exhausted and broken foe, examining him for lice, and endlessly repeating this on TV was a very clever act of humilation and was definitely targeted to break the "myth" of Saddam.

He was degraded to an animal. Look what happens to the foes of the mighty empire.

[kentuck]

5. They are good, aren't they?

People just don't know how good they are. And that is our problem, as a nation.

[trotsky]

6. Well, he *was* an animal.

And we should never forget that. To play up the humanity of Saddam Hussein will get us ZERO points in the court of public opinion.

What we also must not forget is that if it weren't for the U.S., Saddam might not have been able to do all the evil things he did. That's what pisses me off the most - we act like we should be hailed as heroes who conquered Saddam. Well we supported him in the first place so I don't think there's anything noble about capturing him. In cleaning up a problem we created, we've made a much worse mess.

[LiberalFighter]

16. How many more problems will we create or are still festering?

[roguevalley]

14. And I know we are going to pay for doing that the same way we paid for

'bring it on'.

The point was to humiliate him but by extension, we humiliated the
Iraqi people. Not only was it against the Geneva Conventions to
parade that but it also was a slap at the people of Iraq. I wonder
how many soldiers are going to be dead for it?

[ConcernedCanuk]

7. He was buried alive in a friggen hole !!

. . unless he buried himself, I don't see much choice ?

This whole scenario stinks

I'm still thinkin' "double"

[Nihil]

21. Not a double, just another staged event

He showed all the signs of being held in that hole for quite some
time, probably a few weeks, ready to be rolled out as & when the
PR schedule required it.

Bear in mind that if you are in a hole, the people above you control
your air supply and any gases they want to put down there. There was
no danger to his captors - all they needed to do was trickle in a
dilute soporific and he'd be a tame little lamb for the TV.

Nihil

[Magleetis]

8. who is the bigger coward

Saddam or Bush* it's a toss up. My biggest problem with the whole thing is that if it is good for Bush* it is bad for the US.

[rman]

9. it's not like he'd get lighter sentence if he'd not been a coward.

so it's pretty much irrelevant.

[Randi_Listener]

10. He is a coward.

All the beaten and brutalized Iraqis are a testament to that. And if you think he had that pistol down in that rat hole to defend against US troops, I have a bridge to sell you. Grow up.

[nolabels]

11. Maybe to revamp his image he could get that target pistol chalenge........

going again. Maybe it would end with a tie.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/12/15/1071336887016.html
A cauldron of citizens' emotions

December 16, 2003
(snip)
As 37-year-old Ali Farhad, a leather factory owner, watched the videotape of an unwashed and co-operative Saddam that was shown repeatedly on coalition-run TV, he wore a look of revulsion. "He never shot a single bullet," Farhad said in disbelief. "He always cast himself as the big enemy of Americans. But the truth is, he is a coward."

The glee of Muhamad Mohammed, 40, likewise was tainted by the image of the humiliated Saddam. "When I saw and heard about the way he was captured, I was ashamed," Mohammed said. "He should have fought to the death or committed suicide."

Abu Faleh, a 60-year-old security guard suffered no such ambivalence. "I am an old man now. My youth was confiscated by Saddam. But I can rejoice for my sons that he has been arrested. Now their futures will be better than mine."

In the wider Arab world, distaste for Saddam has long been mixed with respect for his stand against the US and Israel, which was strengthened by his success in evading his enemies for eight months on the run. That disjunction could be heard in the gap between what governments said as compared to their citizens.
(snip)

[0007]

12. Saddam Hussein will always be a reminder of how the U.S.

took this murdereous thug and put him in power for the purpose of fighting Iran. How we gave this thug chemicals of mass destruction to use on the Iranian and the Kurds with help from the U.S. satellite system to murder. This can all be proved and I trust that it will come out to the American people that Saddam is not the only war criminal on trial.

[drumz4hire]

13. Yes...

Saddam and OBL are both perfect examples of what
happens when we lose control of the monsters we
create.

[newyawker99]

15. Hi drumz4hire!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Media_Lies_Daily]

19. So is the Chimpster.

[tabasco]

20. And Ronald Reagan - a man of such high principles ...

that he gave weapons to BOTH sides in a war. Such a proud legacy.

[dbt]

22. With slight apologies to Pogo:

"We have caught the enemy, and he is us."

:freak:
dbt

[denverbill]

23. kick

[rman]

24. which is it? surrender or capture?

-

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

25. This is a dupe of this story

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=270628

[Junkdrawer]

26. You mean Saddam "Francis Farmer" Hussein ?

The man I saw getting examined had the affect of an old dog. My bet is that either with drugs or a lobotomy, there won't be enough left of Saddam to talk about anything.

[Moderator]

27. Locking.

This thread was started by a conservative disruptor who has since been banned. It is the policy of Democratic Underground to lock threads that were started by banned disruptors.

Thanks!

DU Moderator