They had hoped to have those images out of Basra weeks ago. They even had plans to fly in TV crews to film it. But that city proved a tougher nut than they anticipated. There were reports from southern Iraq of retribution against Iraqis who were filmed beating on Hussein posters and celebrating his imminent demise. Fear, the Coalition argued, was keeping people in check. Officials here tried to lower expectations as troops headed into Baghdad early this week. But to their surprise, the city quickly turned on its leader and provided just the evidence the Coalition wanted to convince audiences at home, and especially here in the Arab world, that theirs is a welcome war in the historic capital.
Much more than great pictures, the image of Iraqis–aided by Coalition forces–tearing down the massive statue of Saddam Hussein in the heart of Baghdad is a triumph for the psychological war. It’s hard to explain to the West how ubiquitous Hussein’s image is in Iraq. More than just a tribute to his egomania, his image almost has a life of its own. The statues, the posters, all seem to watch Iraqis, remind them of his extreme control. Even the Iraqi passport has a secret silver splotch that under infrared light reveals Saddam looking at them. Coalition forces have realized that destroying these icons is more than just a way to vent or celebrate, it is key to convincing Iraqis that the Baath Party is no more.
And Saddam Hussein himself? No one really knows for sure yet if he has been torn down along with his symbols. If he was in the building that got hit Monday afternoon, there may be no body to discover. The bunker busters leave little behind. The recent footage of Saddam in the streets of Baghdad was widely dismissed as unlikely to be him. For one thing, Hussein, who sees himself as a godlike figure, does not like to be touched by mere mortals. Few believe he would have tolerated being groped on the streets like that. But someone has been running the show until now. The Iraqi information minister, who has been almost as ubiquitous as Saddam these last few weeks, was clearly being put out by someone. His silence since yesterday maybe a loud and clear message that there is no one left.
As much as Westerners may have dismissed the information minister’s blatant lies (claiming the Coalition wasn’t at the Baghdad airport while embedded reporters stood on the tarmac), he has had a tremendous psychological impact internationally. He has been off the air domestically for about a week, but he was still able to communicate Saddam–or someone’s–messages abroad via the many mobile satellite trucks they think kept him on the airwaves. Top brass here have been frustrated that the minister’s words have been given the same moral weight as theirs on TV broadcasts. Despite footage catching him in repeated lies, plenty of people in the Arab world have bought his story over theirs. Hussein’s reach is impressive. Officials here say they were dumbfounded that Jalal Talabani, the resilient Kurdish leader, was actually cowed by the warning that Saddam issued him via the information minister last week.
Now coalition psy-ops will have to step up. The initial plan had been to preserve some of Iraqi State TV–a government entity that also had military C2 (command and control) functions. CENTCOM had hoped to use Iraqi airwaves to transmit messages not only about their intentions but also basic information like where to get food and medicine. But when the regime didn’t fall quickly, Coalition forces ended up bombing Iraqi communications badly last week. With power outages in Baghdad, getting their message out is falling to tactical-information warriors who are broadcasting messages from loudspeakers mounted to Humvees. But the message war is a complicated one. Already, Coalition forces sent a wrong signal. In his enthusiasm, a U.S. Marine draped an American flag over the face of Saddam Hussein’s statue before they tore it down. Repeatedly, the top brass here has told field commanders on their video teleconferences that brandishing the American flag sends a message of occupation, not liberation.
With Saddam’s icons being shattered in the streets of Baghdad, his psy-ops may finally be coming to a crashing end, but the Coalition’s are just beginning.
