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UMM QASR, IRAQ
Spoils of war include likenesses of Hussein
By Thanassis Cambanis, Globe Staff, 4/1/2003
Such portraits of Hussein, in a multitude of shapes, sizes, and poses, flood the Iraqi landscape. With coalition troops in control of the Umm Qasr port, Hussein trophy hunting -- and desecration of the objects -- is rife. US Central Command has issued orders against tampering with symbols of the Iraqi president. But his ubiquitous portrait has met a variety of ugly fates. One now decorates a Navy unit's quarters, with a new faux inscription: "To Steve -- Thanks for all the memories. Saddam." And somewhat sadly, the 10-foot-tall painting in front of the port building, where soldiers, sailors, and visiting dignitaries had posed for photographs in recent days, has been ripped to shreds. Hussein's face has hardly disappeared. Upon crossing the border from Kuwait, at the first traffic circle, a traveler comes upon a 10-foot-high portrait of the leader. At the port administration building, a government facility, the larger-than-life smiling Hussein at the front entrance is complemented by dozens of others.
There are black-and-white Hussein likenesses in every office and a book of Hussein's sayings stacked in cabinets.
This story ran on page A19 of the Boston Globe on 4/1/2003.
US Navy truck pulled up onto the median of the now deserted main road through this strategic port at about midnight, and stopped just beneath a lamppost. A lone military man hoisted himself atop the truck, angling forward dangerously, machete in hand, and snatched a sought-after souvenir: the latex backlit portrait of Saddam Hussein triumphantly brandishing a rifle.
© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.
