The honour should have gone to Iraqis
The Egyptian press wanted the former Iraqi president captured by his own people, as Shaden Shehab discovered
"Saddam Hussein captured", read more or less all the Egyptian press headlines on Monday, complimented with extraordinary photographs of a dishevelled and disoriented Saddam. There was barely an opinion or analysis piece due to the little time the papers had between when the news first broke to when they went to print. Nevertheless, the press splashed articles on Saddam's capture, world reaction, and his biography showing the tyrant that he was.
But with all this came the acknowledgment that it would have been far better had the Iraqi people themselves captured Saddam and not the occupation forces, and that if he had tried to resist it would have been less shameful, or better, committed suicide.
Al-Akhbar's chief editor, Galal Dweidar, in his front page column on Monday, wrote that the "tyrant Saddam Hussein got a taste of what he did to hundreds of Iraqi people -- humiliation, torture, terror and murder. We cannot forget what kind of destruction this dictator caused and the chaos he created in Iraq and the whole Arab nation." But at the same time, Dweidar said he had a bitter taste because Saddam was captured by occupation forces and not the Iraqi people. "They are the people that should have had this right... It is unfortunate and painful that the announcement of his capture was made by [Paul] Bremer, the representative of the American occupation. It is sad, especially since the people of Iraq who live under occupation are the victims from beginning to end."
Ibrahim Nafie, Al-Ahram's editor-in-chief, reflected similar sentiments. "The image of Saddam after his capture in Tikrit is a painful and shocking one. No Arab would have hoped to see this done to a president of one of the most important Arab countries, Iraq." Nevertheless, Nafie went on to portray Saddam as the tyrant that caused the death of thousands of Iraqis in massacres and wars. He said that "now what is needed is for him [Saddam] to have a fair Iraqi trial, not an American one. After all, he is an Arab president and his crimes and mistakes were in the beginning and end against the Iraqi people."
Prominent columnist Salama Ahmed Salama on Tuesday wrote in Al-Ahram that with the capture of Saddam, Iraq had entered an entirely new stage. "There is absolutely no turning back and no choice but to move forward. It is a crucial moment. The occupation forces needed to desperately prove their absolute control over Iraq. The Iraqi people needed to be certain that they are not resisting for the sake of Saddam but for their country's liberty and sovereignty and independence. However, Salama noted that "along with the same amount of relief that has gone into getting rid of him is the wish that his trial be conducted by the Iraqi people alone."
Salama said "Bush will add to his list of presidential victories, the success of Saddam's capture, after the failure to capture [Osama] Bin Laden. He will work on investing the event for his presidential campaign... But Saddam's capture will probably not solve the problems of the Anglo-American occupation and will not suppress the Iraqi resistance that has become as strong as the suppressive measures the occupation forces are using in dealing with the Iraqi people." When Saddam stands trial -- a right that the Iraqi people should hold onto -- secrets will be revealed concerning cooperation and conspiracies that tie the Iraqi regime, intelligence agencies and top American officials, Salama wrote. "What is left is for the Arab regimes to learn that tyranny leads to loss and defeat," Salama concluded.
Prominent columnist Salah Montasser wrote in Al- Ahram, "I admit I was surprised by Saddam's capture alive... It was expected that he would be pronounced dead which would have closed many files that will now be revealed after his capture.... especially those related to his old ties with the US. But it seems that Saddam himself did not give the forces an opportunity to kill him... the 600 soldiers did not fire one bullet."
Montasser added, "I cannot remember at any time anyone hiding from his enemies in a hole like the one Saddam was found in. ... Saddam's long hair and beard made him look like pre-civilisation cavemen." Montasser concluded that although he had an opportunity to commit suicide Saddam proved too much of a coward and could not do what he had done to so many people.
In Al-Wafd, prominent writer and the newspaper's former editor-in-chief Gamal Badawi said that "the people who are crying over the devil's capture should save their tears for the thousands of orphans, widows, and other victims that were buried alive in the soil of Iraq that has covered them in silence."
"His image was greatly humiliating and of being defeated," wrote Mohamed El-Ezabi of Al-Gomhouriya. "Many had hoped that this infamous man would fall but not in this manner. People are disappointed... but still what is important now is the future of Iraq and preventing more humiliation while Iraqis are under occupation."
In a news analysis in Al-Ahram, Gamil Afifi wrote that Saddam's capture raised numerous questions about the continuation of Iraqi resistance operations and whether Saddam had played a role in them. Afifi said that Iraqi resistance was divided into two groups: Saddam loyalists, the Republican Guards and Ba'thists on one side and Iraqis who are fighting the occupation, including members of the Iraqi military that are against Saddam, on the other. Unlike Saddam's supporters, resistance from the second category is likely to accelerate to prove that they have nothing to do with the former president. "They hate the occupation but they also despise Saddam Hussein," Afifi wrote.
In Akher Sa'a magazine, its editor-in-chief Mohamed Barakat wrote that it was hard to believe that Saddam surrendered without resistance and without firing a single shot despite having a gun. "It is difficult for us and for others to comprehend why he did not defend himself and allowed American forces to arrest him with such ease. It's as though he was somebody else, not the one we know, the strong and fearless dictator."
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 18 - 24 December 2003 (Issue No. 669)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/669/pr2.htm