Disgusting display
The televised images of the corpses of Saddam's sons shocked and horrified many Egyptians. Gihan Shahine gauges the public mood
Ghada Helmi, a 35-year-old housewife and graduate of the American University in Cairo, was on vacation when news broke of the killing of Uday and Qusay, the sons of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, in a US bombardment of their hideaway in the northern city of Mosul on 22 July. Helmi's initial reaction was, perhaps, typical of many Egyptians. "I felt a mixture of disbelief and a sense that an era had ended," she said.
Those feelings, however, soon gave way to horror when the US allowed images of the corpses of Uday and Qusay to be broadcast. It was just before 4pm last Friday when Al-Jazeera satellite channel interrupted its midday programming to broadcast footage from the makeshift morgue in Baghdad showing the remains of the two men who were among the wealthiest and most powerful of Iraqis. Helmi's family gathered around the screen in dread and anticipation -- as did many Egyptians who have access to satellite channels. Silence reigned, only to be broken by cries of fright and disgust at the sight of the close-ups of the severely disfigured bodies of the brothers.
Helmi's 13-year-old daughter Farah was there, watching with dismay. Suddenly everybody shouted with anger at the announcement that the faces of the corpses, disfigured beyond recognition, had been reconstructed to make the men identifiable for viewers.
"It's horrifying -- inhumane," Helmi said. Her stance is typical of many: "Whatever crime they [Saddam's sons] committed, is beside the point. Killing them was a crime, a murder, it was sacrilegious because the body belongs to God not to people."
Almost all those interviewed by Al-Ahram Weekly -- ranging from intellectuals to students, housewives, and taxi drivers -- expressed similar disgust at the release of images of the dead men. Not that anyone likes Saddam or his sons, though. The prevalent logic is that Saddam's sons should have been captured and tried in a court of law responsible to their own people and not, as many heartily insist, "have been massacred by the invaders [the US troops]".
"The US military presence in Iraq is illegal and so whatever Americans do in Iraq lacks any element of justice or legitimacy," noted Mustafa Kamel El- Sayed, professor of political science at Cairo University. "Which," El-Sayed added, "partly explains the ire on Egyptian and Arab streets."
Even among Egyptians who suffered from the actions of the former Iraqi regime, the response was largely the same. An Egyptian woman who lived in Kuwait at the time of Iraq's 1990 invasion of its neighbour said, "We hate Saddam and his sons because we believe they were bloodthirsty, but we are also against the US invasion and meddling in Iraq's domestic affairs."
"What's the US's interest in Uday or Qusay?" the woman residing in Kuwait , who spoke to the Weekly on condition of anonymity, exclaimed angrily. "It was up to the Iraqi people to try the brothers for the suffering they inflicted. The US invaders, who were shown on TV humiliating their Iraqi captives, did not have any business with Saddam's sons -- none whatsoever."
People were in agreement that, as one put it, the dissemination of the images "violated international codes of ethics". A disgruntled Mohamed Emara, an Egyptian Islamic scholar, appeared on Al-Jazeera right after the controversial footage was shown, condemning what he termed "an illegal act that violates Shari'a and the Geneva Convention".
Many people were also shocked to find Arab newspapers spreading the photos of the bloodied corpses on their front pages. Although some opined that the press was "just doing its job", many others said it was "extremely unethical" for newspapers in the region to splash the photos across their front pages, and rumours were rife that the US government asked Arab newspapers to give the photos top billing.
"I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the papers," Helmi said. "It was like the Egyptian press was joining in the fun. I think it is unethical to publish the photos in such a way."
But El-Sayed believes that another lesson can be derived from the images. "I think that publishing the photos showed the extent of brutality of the American troops," he said.
Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, for his part, said he ordered the display of the dead bodies "to convince frightened Iraqis that Saddam's reign was truly over". The reconstruction of the corpses, a US military official said, was meant "to make them more readily identifiable".
The US justification, however, was unconvincing for those interviewed, many of whom said the incident offered further evidence that US policy was based on double standards.
"America condemned the display of its soldiers who were taken as prisoners of war and American soldiers who were killed during the US invasion of Iraq on grounds that the act [by the former Iraqi regime] violated the Geneva Convention," said a 69- year-old consultant engineer who asked to remain anonymous. "Now the US is blatantly violating ethical codes and nobody is there to question it. This is actually humiliating for all of us as Arabs."
A group of students, however, decided to take action. Members of student unions have sent a statement to the US Embassy condemning what they termed as "a violation of human rights and Geneva Convention".
"What happened was totally unacceptable," said Basem El-Kababgi, head of the Suez University student union. "America fumed at the display of a few soldiers killed during the US war on Iraq. How then should we feel when two symbols of a former regime are murdered and then put on display in such a humiliating way? That Uday and Qusay were despotic is absolutely no justification for the US murder -- otherwise what would courts be for?"
The very idea of killing -- rather than trying --Saddam's sons has been the subject of heated public debate, stimulating a range of explanations and, sometimes conspiracy theories. There are those who view the killing as a means to raise the morale of US troops and their families; others think the murder was meant to convince the world that only members of the Ba'ath Party, and not the Iraqi people, make up the resistance against the US presence in Iraq. Others believe that the move is part of a US plan to provoke Saddam to come out of hiding. The majority, though, expressed sentiments similar to one interviewee who said, "The US was afraid that a trial would reveal embarrassing facts against America."
Prominent Al-Ahram columnist Salah Montasser wrote on Sunday, "The US sought the death of Saddam's sons probably in order to close a file that, otherwise, may have provoked sympathy for the former regime."
But whatever the US's reasons are, Montasser is sceptical about whether killing Saddam's sons would actually extract Bush from what he called "the worst political crisis he has ever experienced".
El-Sayed concurs, "This simplistic belief that getting rid of Saddam's family would put an end to the Iraqi resistance shows the naïveté of US officials, who ignore the historical fact that no people would ever accept military occupation."
For now, however, the images of Saddam's sons have undoubtedly dealt another blow to the US's already diminishing popularity in Egypt.
"It's ridiculous when a superpower like America uses all those helicopters, tanks and no less than 200 Special Forces soldiers to kill four people, including a child, and even rejoices in the act as a victory," scoffed Salah Gabr, a university professor. "It just shows how cowardly Americans are; they were actually too frightened to engage in a real battle with three almost unarmed men."
El-Sayed agrees, "What happened in Mosul was nothing more than an act of cowardice. The US government, which claims to be democratic, should behave in a way different than using methods typical of authoritarian, repressive regimes," he added. Many would further argue the US miscalculated when it turned the "two despots [Uday and Qusay] into martyrs".
"The US committed the murder with a glee characteristic of bloodthirsty cannibals," Helmi said in disdain. "Gloating over corpses is not my idea of behaviour characteristic of a civilised people. You can't claim to be fighting in the name of freedom and act in such a manner."
Riham, an English teacher, is equally disenchanted by US actions.
"The carnage caused by the US and the display of the bodies of Uday and Qusay is only a further proof of US terrorism," she said. "The US is a tyrant who allows itself to pass judgement on the entire world, yet allows no one to question its own acts."
"Where is the UN?" exclaimed Riham angrily. "And where are human rights organisations? Why is everybody keeping silent? The US is declaring itself the only power in the world, portraying itself as an angel and everyone else as devils."
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 31 July - 6 August 2003 (Issue No. 649)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/649/eg5.htm