Several boys die copying Saddam hanging

Yahoo News ^ | ANNA JOHNSON

[Soothesayer]

AIRO, Egypt - The boys' deaths — scattered in the United States, in Yemen, in Turkey and elsewhere in seemingly isolated horror — had one thing in common: They hanged themselves after watching televised images of Saddam Hussein's execution.

Officials and relatives say the children appeared to be mimicking the former dictator's Dec. 30 hanging, shown both on a sanitized Iraqi government tape and explicit clandestine videos that popped up on Web sites and some TV channels.

The leaked videos, apparently taken by cell phone cameras, set off international outrage over the raucous scene at Saddam's execution, but some experts are more concerned about the images of the deposed Iraqi leader dropping through the gallows floor and his body swinging at the end of a rope.

The experts say such graphic images can severely affect youngsters who do not yet understand the consequences of death and violence — especially because Saddam's death received intense international attention.

"They see how it's done, but they don't think it's horrific, and they're more likely to imitate it," said Hisham Ramy, an associate professor of psychiatry at Ain Shams University in Cairo.

[oneamericanvoice]

I agree. I don't know why they don't take action against the mosques, since they are funded by Saudi Arabia which practices Wahaabism. They send the Imams, and the entire staff of the mosques from SA, to spew their hate speech.

The enemy is definitely amongst us.

BTW, Urban Outfitters is selling the Palestinian scarf in their stores. The outrage has built to where they have pulled it from the website, but it remains in stores. The are based in Philadelphia, in case you want to weigh-in.