[Marxism] Oops!

[davidquarter at sympatico.ca]

[Gee...what was the little display back in 2003 all about? Not that this will do a thing 
to diminish the offensive]


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4565505.stm


Saddam underwear photo angers US 

The US military says it is investigating "aggressively" after a picture appeared in a 
British paper showing Saddam Hussein half naked. 
The Sun newspaper's front page image showed the former Iraqi president in a pair of white 
underpants. 
Other pictures showed Saddam Hussein washing his trousers, shuffling around and 
sleeping. 
The US said the photos appeared to breach Geneva Convention rules on the humane 
treatment of prisoners of war. 
The conventions say countries must protect prisoners of war in their custody from "public 
curiosity". 
'Destroy the myth' 
The Sun cited US military sources saying they handed over the pictures showing Saddam as 
"an ageing and humble old man" in the hope of dealing a blow to the resistance in Iraq. 
"It's important that the people of Iraq see him like that to destroy the myth," the paper's 
source was quoted as saying. 
However, a spokesman for the multinational forces in Baghdad, Lieutenant-Colonel Steven 
Boylan, insisted "they were not released by the US military. So the claims in the Sun... are 
not correct". 

A statement from the US-led force said it was "disappointed at the possibility that someone 
responsible for the security, welfare, and detention of Saddam would take and provide these 
photos for public release". 
The statement added: "This lapse is being aggressively investigated to determine, if 
possible, who took the photos, and to ensure existing procedures and directives are complied 
with to prevent this from happening again." 
Col Boylan said: "As far as any breaches of the Geneva Convention, that's something we are 
looking into. We did not officially release those photos, and so there's a question on whether 
it is actually a breach or not." 
The Sun refused to say how it got hold of the pictures, or when they were taken, insisting it 
needed to protect its sources. 
It defended its decision to publish them. 
"We thought long and hard about publishing, and took the decision that they're such 
incredible pictures of the world's most brutal dictator... they were a compelling image that 
any newspaper or broadcaster would publish," the paper's managing editor, Graham 
Dudman, told the BBC News website. 
Pink chair 
Saddam Hussein is awaiting trial on numerous charges in Iraq, including murdering rivals, 
gassing Iraqi Kurds and using violence to suppress uprisings. 
It is not clear when he will go on trial. 
{PRIVATE "TYPE=PICT;ALT=US soldier taking Saddam Hussein from his hiding place in ad-Dawr, 13 December, 2003"}
Saddam had a beard when he was 
caught near his hometown of Tikrit

The US said the pictures might be more than a year old. 
They show Saddam with a moustache, rather than the beard he sported when he was 
captured in December 2003, and again when he appeared in court last July. 
The Sun said the former Iraqi leader, 68, was allowed black hair dye to disguise his grey 
hair. 
The paper said Saddam Hussein is kept in a 12ft by 9ft (4m x 3m) cell "somewhere near 
Baghdad", that he has a desk and a pink plastic chair "which he tends to use as a bedside 
table". 
He is watched round the clock through CCTV cameras, even when he goes to the toilet, the 
paper said. 
The source added that Saddam was one of the best behaved prisoners the US had had, it 
said. 



-------------- next part --------------
The following section of this message contains a file attachment
prepared for transmission using the Internet MIME message format.
If you are using Pegasus Mail, or any other MIME-compliant system,
you should be able to save it or view it from within your mailer.
If you cannot, please ask your system administrator for assistance.

   ---- File information -----------
     File:  WPM$31C5_1.PNG
     Date:  20 May 2005, 12:54
     Size:  3524 bytes.
     Type:  Unknown