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1972
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mercoledì, dicembre 17, 2003
Hitchens su Saddam ed i suoi sgherri.
Try to imagine seeing his face on your front page every day for three decades, and hearing that voice and seeing that face every time you turned on the radio or TV. Try to imagine being unable to escape from it when you went to the opera, the cinema, the theatre, or the football. For millions of Iraqis under 35, this indoctrination started at infant school, where lesson one was that Big Daddy was supreme, and could do what he liked to your or your family. His arrest also shows how empty and unstable his otherwise terrifying regime always was. He must have known that the search would concentrate on and around Tikrit, his hometown. But he went there anyway, and hid in his hole. He knew he wouldn't be able to hide anywhere else. You hear a lot about his 'Sunni' support, but the Tikriti clan is a minority of the Sunni minority. When he was bagged, Saddam was found with a huge pile of cash in US dollars. Only this month was the coalition able to print a new Iraqi dinar note, without his face on it. ONE of the worst recent attacks on coalition forces, in the city of Samarra, was made on a convoy bringing that new currency to the local banks and shopkeepers. The desperation of the so-called "resistance" is evident from such tactics. It might not be wise to assume, though, that such elements will necessarily be discouraged by the capture of their former boss. Throwing off all secular disguise, they have adopted the rhetoric and method of jihad and this will be their selling point for some time. However, they have lost their rallying point. And a number of Iraqis who have been hesitant and fearful until now can be expected to straighten up and look people in the eye. |
A Fabio.
A Luisa.   
  Asia e dintorni Normblog |
