whoa!! this is as bad as the US flag over saddam statue incident

[veganwitch]

just saw this on yahoo news



U.S. Army 4th Infantry Division Spc. Lowary Rick Terry holds a machine gun mounted on a Humvee beside a stone image of the face of former Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein which has been painted over with a US. flag and the name of the American forward operating base, Omaha, outside Tikrit, Iraq,Saturday, Nov. 15, 2003. (Efrem Lukatsky)

iraq the 52 state?

[Cooley Hurd]

1. Thank God it wasn't a bas-relief of Mohammed...

That would've pissed ME off!

[lemon lime]

2. is there a 52nd state?

Damn, we would not want to have them on our shirtails. It would be a real load to carry, wouldn't it?
We are already pumping billions of dollars into Iraq.

[bicentennial_baby]

3. Egads!

Subtlety is definitely not somebody's strong suit... :puke:

[Cocoa]

4. many see the American flag

as a cover for the Israeli flag.

btw, what is the 51st state? :-)

[sujan]

5. 'what is the 51st state? :-)'

Israel....and add 'welfare to it'

[LifeDuringWartime]

6. speaking of israel

some consider israel to be the 51st state. so if you believe that to be true in a sense, then maybe iraq will be the 52nd.

very ominous picture, imho

[Dr Fate]

7. If this were a just war, like WWII, I would not mind this kind of thing...

...it's probably a morale thing for the troops- a victory mark or whatever...I know they used to do a lot of things like this in WWII...

Problem is,- this aint WWII, and these people are not ready for the foreign concept of a Republic/Democracy or the symbols of it...

I dont have a huge personal problem with this imagery- but I wonder if this kind of thing will been seen as "arrogant" by many Iraqis...

Besides, the symbolism is confusing- why do we want Old Glory right next to Saddam's face anyway???

[Old and In the Way]

12. Well Doc....he was a proxy of US interests in the 80s.

He was pretty much annoited by Reagan/Bush1 to look after our interests there. There's more than a little irony in that symbolism, I think.

But probably most Iraqi's won't get it.........

[wuushew]

8. Just when you thought things couldn't get any dumber

This could be taken in at least three bad ways

(A)Portrait of the despised Saddam left on display despite downfall of the regieme(Is Saddam gone?)

(B)Stars and Stripes overlaid on Saddam's face perhaps reminding Iraqis of the many years Saddam was loved and supported during the Raygun years or perhaps the role that the US had in bringing him to power

(C)The outline of Iraq not filled in with the traditional flag of the republic, the Hashemite monarchy or some other beneign Arab or Islamic symbols but rather the imperial stars and stripes which serve to re-enforce the notion that the U.S. ownes Iraq in a territorial and natural resources manner.

[veganwitch]

10. i think choice C is the most immediate reaction

you just wanna smack some one upside the head and scream

"what the hell were you thinking!"

[JailBush]

9. The last straw...

Will Coalition troops arrogantly begin replacing Saddam's likeness with a stylized chimpanzee?

[Scott Lee]

11. Oh boy THAT'S gonna win us a lot of friends in Iraq!

Swear to the Gods....some soldiers are too stupid to be given shoelaces.

[veganwitch]

13. boost

for the evening crew.