Posted on 05/20/2005 9:43:31 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Fri May 20, 8:45 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - A picture of Saddam Hussein in his underpants was splashed across the front-page of the Sun on Friday.
The Sun quoted U.S. military sources as saying they had handed over the pictures "in the hope of dealing a body blow to the resistance in Iraq".
Other photographs showed Saddam, with short, dyed-black hair and a moustache, washing clothes by hand and asleep on his bed.
But a U.S. military statement said the pictures might be a year old, contravened Saddam's rights as a prisoner and could have broken the Geneva Convention.
"Multi-National Forces-Iraq is disappointed at the possibility that someone responsible for the security, welfare, and detention of Saddam would take and provide these photos for public release," the statement said.
"This lapse is being aggressively investigated to determine, if possible, who took the photos, and to ensure existing procedures and directives are complied with to prevent this from happening again," it said.
Toppled from power in the U.S. war in Iraq in April 2003, Saddam was captured hiding in a small underground bunker in December of the same year. Apart from a brief court appearance last year, no images of Saddam have been made public since then.
Saddam is expected to stand trial in next year on charges of genocide, torture and crimes against humanity. If he is found guilty he could face the death penalty.
"Saddam is not superman or God, he is just an ageing and humble old man," The Sun quoted the military source as saying.
"It's important that the people of Iraq see him like that to destroy the myth. Maybe that will kill a bit of the passion in the fanatics who still follow him.
"It's over, guys. The evil days of Saddam's Baath Party are never coming back - and here's the proof," the source said.
The newspaper said the pictures were taken at a top secret location where Saddam was being held in a 12-ft by 9-ft (3.6-m by 2.7-m) cell, watched 24 hours a day on closed circuit television by special forces and military police.
It is not the first time pictures of U.S. detainees in Iraqi jails have been leaked to the media.
A year ago graphic photographs of the abuse of detainees in the notorious Abu Ghraib jail outraged world opinion and were described as the best recruiting campaign for Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda.
The quality of the Sun's topless models has seriously worsened.
Right. Now one of them grows mustache and chest hairs.:-) The Sun must have decided to go for 'freak show' to corner the market.
LOL!!
I am going to sue the Sun newspaper for traumatic emotional damage and nightmares because I saw this image!!!!! UGH....Thanks for sharing!
Good question. Wanna bet this turns out to be a fake? Perhaps a photoshopped picture?
Alright, which one of you picture doctoring geniuses put Saddams head on Hillary's neck???
I don't care what the man wears underneath his clothes, and this pic is in poor taste. Clinton grosses me out. I just am so tired of this tasteless pics. The sun should find something else to write about.
We demand they put Hillary's head back on her neck!
I _really_ didn't need to see that...
Shock! Horror! Yawn! Nothing so egregious has ever been perpetrated anywhere in the world! And especially not by the media!!
Did you all hear the Communist news network say that these pictures could be against the Geneva Convention?
Seriously, I hope I look that fit at 70!
Say what you want, the Guy's sporting a package that wouldn't fit under the average Christmas tree.
Truly.
He looks fairly spry for a guy pushing 80. As I noticed immediatley and a freeper mentioned earlier, do they actually let him color his hair in captivity?
As I recall his hair was growing in when he was captured.
This picture does not ring true. Surprise surprise.
They're laughing at him!
[SQUINT! SQUEEZE! GROAN! *pant pant*]
Man, try as I might I just can't seem to conjure up much sympathy for ol' Saddam.
It only takes one. But you're right, the resistance isn't from the Baathists, but from Mohammedan nutjobs.
May very well be. If the Pentagon could get their hands on the file, I'm sure they could tell.
I agree. He doesn't look all that bad. Too bad he's evil.
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