Posted on 04/10/2003 7:06:53 AM PDT by Incorrigible
Thursday, April 10, 2003
BY JUDY PEET
Star-Ledger Staff
[Newark, NJ] -- It was the defining image of the day: A crowd of exuberant Iraqis, with the help of Marines, toppling a 40-foot statue of Saddam Hussein, then dragging his giant decapitated head through the streets of Baghdad.
A classic moment of liberation imagery, however, was marred by an act of overenthusiasm by U.S. troops who put an American flag on the statue's head. That act, lasting only minutes, blurred the line between liberation and occupation and, experts said, gave proof to the astonishing power of symbols.
"Leaders are very aware of the power of the icon. It is not surprising that (Saddam) plastered his image all over Iraq," even in mosques, said Princeton professor John Darley, whose specialty is the psychology of war.
"Toppling the statue means toppling the regime, but the event is defined by who is doing the pulling," added Darley, who lectures at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
"If the Arab world remembers the Americans and the flag, tearing down the statue becomes, not a symbol of liberation, but of occupation, and it could very well come back to haunt us."
The incident -- broadcast live across the Arab world -- started when several hundred Iraqis attacked the statue in Firdos Square in front of the Shahid Mosque. They beat it with a sledgehammer and threw a rope around its neck, but failed to bring it down.
The Marines entered the act, offering a heavy winch and cable, which they wrapped around the neck. They hung the American flag over Saddam's head, but within minutes pulled it off and replaced it with the Iraqi flag.
Initial reactions to the film clip support Darley's concerns.
"I, and many Arabs and Muslims, were appalled at the statues Saddam erected all over the country, like it was a kingdom. But what I saw on television was not liberation, it was occupation by a superior force that could turn its sights on other Arab nations at any time," said Hani Awadallah, a Montclair State University professor and president of the Arab-American Civic Organization.
"It was infuriating, even for those people who really hate Saddam," Awadallah said. "For us, that picture represents the U.S. campaign to unnecessarily destroy a city that is the capital of Islam -- where Islamic science, culture and civilization was born -- and to, in the process, antagonize 1.3 billion Muslims worldwide."
Pentagon sources said that military leaders are acutely aware of the power of statues and flags. One official said troops were warned going into Iraq not to wave the American flag, because it could be construed as "replaying Iwo Jima."
Coalition forces have been toppling, blowing up or running over Saddam's likeness ever since they got to Iraq, acts blessed by commanders as a blatant -- and very effective sign -- that the dictator is crushed.
"It is a very broad phenomenon; people see statues as a tangible image of a reality they can't control. Toppling statues allows us to personally feel in control," said Rutgers sociology professor Karen Cerulo.
She noted that the Iraqi crowd that joined in knocking down Saddam's likeness also threw shoes at it, a gross insult in the Arab world. "The connection between icon and dictator is very real."
"It happened to statues of Lenin when Russia collapsed and in China when Mao died," Cerulo added. "The difference was, the people oppressed tore down the statues, not U.S. soldiers. If that image (of Marines with their flag) is replayed over and over, it will cause a lot of damage."
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