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Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday December 16, 2003

The Not-so Metrosexual

Gary J. Bass, a professor of politics and international affairs at Princeton University, says the footage of Saddam Hussein following his capture on Saturday served a crucial purpose: shattering his image.

“Whatever godlike aura Saddam had has been pretty punctured by the images of him bedraggled, and some American doctor checking him for lice and poking around in his mouth,” Bass said. “Doesn’t get much more humiliating than that.” 

These images will resonate strongly in Iraq, said Mideast human rights expert Mahmood Monshipouri of Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn. 

“They saw him in the TV footage as a man who was somewhat disoriented, very subdued and submissive rather than somebody who was putting up a fight,” he said. “He could have killed himself as a matter of honor, not to be in the hands of the American soldiers. 

“The images that were projected yesterday had tremendous impact.’’ (Source: Hamilton Spectator)