Iraqi Frontpage Shenanigans

Via Instapundit, a link to a Weekly Standard article pouring over an interesting detail regarding the current status of Saddam's mortal coil. From "Meet The Press":

RUSSERT: Mr. Ambassador, is Saddam Hussein dead or alive?

AL-DOURI: We start with that. I am here. I am in New York. I think that he is alive, of course, because we saw him several times on the TV.

RUSSERT: But on the TV, it could be edited or outdated footage. Why doesn't he appear holding a daily newspaper so people know for certain he is alive?

AL-DOURI: You know, anyway I think he is alive, but the question is not there because Iraq is Iraq and Saddam Hussein is the president of Iraq. Now we have to talk about the war against Iraq, against the people of Iraq, not against one person.

RUSSERT: But were Saddam Hussein or his sons injured?

AL-DOURI: I told you it is not a question of one person or two persons. . . .

Jonathan Last, the article's author then delves into some possible reasons for this odd convoluted dodge from Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations. However, I'd like to mention that using a current Iraqi newspaper as evidence Saddam is alive may not be such a hot idea. I know Russert didn't say that exactly, but it is sort of implied.

The idea is based upon the assumption that the print media in the country is independent of Saddam and his government and can print their papers without interference. This is clearly not the case as many of Saddam's closest family and advisors run and control the media in the country, including the most popular newspaper.

Why is this important? Well, since we're talking about state-run media organs under the leadership of one of the world's worst tyrannical families and political systems, reporting the truth and attempting objectivity and maintaining journalistic standards are probably far down their list of priorities. They can print whatever they want, no matter how seperated from reality their stories are. This means they essentially know in advance what the frontpage of the newspapers will look like. It's up to them and however much pressure they wish to exert on the publishers.

So, I wouldn't automatically trust any video with Saddam holding up a "new" Iraqi newspaper and pointing out the headlines as definitive proof he's alive and kicking. Unless the video (or still, I guess) contained a recognizable AP/Reuters/etc. photo of recent date on the newspaper and it wasn't photoshopped in, of course. Given the quality I've seen of Iraqi TV, I doubt it would be easy to verify such a photo.

Posted by Drizzten at March 31, 2003 09:06 PM