Pretty much avoided commenting upon the release of pictures of Saddam Hussein in his jail cell, au naturale, since it was such an obvious case of disinformation and propaganda. Sometimes it’s best to wait until the fur stops flying.
It was a well handled and interesting bit of propaganda. The media and the public all reacted to it on the emotional level desired. It made people laugh, it made them angry. But, it made them react and reinforced an attitude towards Hussein. No one really questioned any of the hyperbole and contradictions regarding the photos. It was the definition of a well oiled propaganda campaign.
The Pentagon and Bush White House wins on all counts. Bitch all you want about it being a violation of the Geneva Convention. Just add it to the ever growing list of violations by the US.
Assume that the official US stance is true, and the pictures were taken by unknown person or persons, either by taking direct photos of Hussein or lifted from surveillance cameras. What does this say about the discipline of the security detail surrounding the worlds most feared dictator and enemy of the entire world?
It means that there are people, unknown to the Pentagon apparently, who have access to Hussein, or at least, access to the secured perimeter and surveillance system. This means in essence that the security around Hussein is compromised. This has ramifications beyond the taking of simple pictures. Right? Apparently not.
It just looks so ridiculous. The mere fact that the pictures got out at all is proof that it was a controlled event.
The exact specifications of Hussein’s incarceration are unknown, but it goes without saying that his cell and its perimeter are strictly controlled. All visual and physical access to Hussein is monitored, under digital surveillance, and that surveillance is controlled to the millisecond and backed up. Not a millisecond of the entire area goes uncovered and unwatched. We are talking about the worlds most guarded prisoner, correct?
It would be no great task to know who was doing what at any given moment in and around Hussein’s cell. It’s fair to say that it is also known who is where at any given moment, and access to all visual lines of sight to Hussein, either real or surveillance, is strictly controlled. If you see Hussein, then someone is also seeing you. That is to say, someone is watching the watchers. And, the list of people with such access is likely very short, and controlled to the person.
Murderers on any death row in the USA are under similar surveillance. Access to those areas is controlled to the person and the moment.
So, if pictures from such a controlled area are released into the public domain, it is more than fair to assume that the military structure around Hussein can accurately pinpoint who it was, and where and when those pictures were taken or lifted from the surveillance system. It is safe to assume that the access and the ability to get away with taking or lifting such pictures is limited as well, and getting caught doing so would be a serious violation, no?
Are we to believe that access to the worlds most dangerous man is that wide open, that what amounts to a paparazzi in the military detail can take a photo of Hussein in his secured, undisclosed location as easily as if it were Brad Pitt on the beach?
No matter how one looks at it, it’s either deliberate or extremely incompetent.
Personally, I find it highly unlikely that it is possible to get such information from the surveillance system or getting that close to Hussein to take a photo and then being able to dodge the surveillance and security without getting caught or having it recorded in some manner. That is, without some type of real cooperation by those within the security area. (For a thousand bucks? Is that worth ruining your career over?)
This brings us to another point to consider. The pictures were purchased, as noted, for reportedly less than a thousand dollars by a news source owned and operated by Rupert Murdoch, whose allegiance to the Bush White House is well established.
Let’s assume that it is as all sources state: the pictures were squired out of arguably the worlds most secured military area and given to The New York Post and The Sun in the UK for a measly thousand bucks.
Isn’t it more than logical to assume, considering their relationship with the Pentagon and White House, the New York Post and The Sun would likely be more than a little shy about printing pictures that are out and out examples of an obvious breech in security and discipline in the military structure around Hussein?
Isn’t it also safe to assume that both or at least one of those news sources would likely check with the Pentagon and / or the White House before they printed those pictures? I’d say that is a fair bet. Most especially considering the bad blood between the media and the Bush Administration.
Think about it for a minute. Think about the atmosphere of pure animosity and hatred that exists between the media and the Pentagon and Bush White House currently. It’s been bad blood for a long time. Think about how the White House and Pentagon could very well react with real anger at the printing of photos of Hussein.
We are being led to believe that news sources owned by a Bush Administration supporter printed the pictures of Hussein without first conferring with the Administration as to the source and ramifications of those pictures.
That is how one knows it was disinfo. Isn’t it safe to assume that if the pictures of Hussein were indeed unapproved and their existence unknown by the Pentagon and the White House that the New York Post and The Sun would be very wary of printing them, possibly incurring the considerable wrath of the Bush Administration and the Pentagon? But, they printed the photos.
Keep in mind that the news sources also stated from the beginning that the photos were approved by the Pentagon. They know to watch their backs, lest they become the next victim of the right-wing anti-media blitzkrieg.
And, the reaction of both the Pentagon and the White House was rather muted and controlled. “We are going to get to the bottom of this.” with a pretty controlled refutation of the entire incident.
Senior U.S. military sources told CNN on Friday the military did not give photos to The Sun — no matter what the newspaper says.
It was all great propaganda theater. The Pentagon got to say they were outraged, and blame the papers, even though it was one of theirs who took the photo in breech of security.
In the end, the photos are still out there, and Hussein the tyrant looks like your neighbors uncle who talks to his poodle… a fool in his fallen castle.
And, soon enough, it was all forgotten anyway…
