HOME	Where the World's Views of America Come into Focus

By Qasem Hammadi

May 23, 2005

Original Article (Arabic)

Saddam Hussein: The ultimate
humiliation. Shouls anyone care?

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In her first reaction to the publication of photos of her father, Raghad Hussein, the daughter of deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, said that she “has not and will not look at those pictures.” In an interview to be published tomorrow in the Stockholm newspaper Expressen and excerpted in Lebanon’s Al-Hayat, Raghad Hussein wondered whether the treatment being meted out to her father by the American Administration violated the Geneva Conventions, and she appealed to the Americans to consider the man’s humanity.

She demanded that the Americans consider that Saddam Hussein has daughters and grandsons that are affected by what happens to him. She described her father as having loved the people and his family. “He is a kind father and cared very much about every detail of our lives.”

When asked whether she had seen the pictures, she said, “This is a natural condition of any person who is living and breathing. We all must use the bathroom and wash ourselves and change our clothes. This is the natural course of daily life. Is this so exceptional that I should look at it? But I was surprised that Western newspapers resorted to and approved such photos.” And she added, “They (the Americans) have begun an investigation into the leak of the pictures, and they are in the best position to discover the wrongdoers. They are a superpower that imposes democracy on the world and is supposed to abide by the Geneva Conventions. They are the ones that demand the world follow the rules, while they themselves violate them.

She also expressed confidence that the pictures would badly affect the image of the West. “I will not speak about the Arab citizen, who would refuse to publish such photos as a matter of fact, but I address myself to Western citizens.

What effect will this news have on Saddam Hussein’s family? She said, “Sadly they are dealing with my father as if he were not human. My father has girls, and his girls have children ... his grandchildren … so they should consider the human side.”

“They think that my father has a lack of concern for human rights, but regardless of the details, the Americans should be humanitarian in dealing with his family, because we are human. Saddam has three young ladies and they have children, I have five and Rena has four, and Hala has two ... Therefore, our father is very dear to us ... His grandchildren love him a lot. Why aren’t humanitarian factors taken into account?

She continued by saying that her son Ali is 20-years-old, and said to her, “Oh mother, this is to be expected. It will be bad for them before it will be bad for us.” As for the rest of the children, Mrs. Hussein said, “their eyes were filled with questions. Why is all this happening to us? Why at this moment, does the whole world is see us as the big enemy.