Described by the American adminstration as a coup de theatre, the film showing Saddam strolling among his adoring citizens vowing their lives for their ruler astonished the American Adminstration that it is still suffering the Denial Syndrome
Yesterday, I received more than 17 telephone calls from friends, neighbours and mere acqauintances urging me to switch on the TV and see "The Caliph" among his loving people in the streets of Baghdad. For more than 24 hours, the Egyptian capital exchanged cheers over Mr. Hussein's lovely demeanour. The man walked proudly smiling unperturbed by any potential assassin. The CIA which claimed to know what brand of undershirt Hussein wore could not even tell whether that was Mr. Hussein in his own flesh smiling to the camera! Jokes about the CIA and American technological superiority were exchanged all day long.

The American media could not hide away the film from their audience since it was "big news". Highly embarrassing to the American adminstration claiming that Mr. Hussein and both his sons were dead, the CIA saw it necessary to 'suspect' it was not Saddam.

To all of us his people and neighbours, it was Saddam. But what difference does it make if it were not him. Iraqis in the streets flocked to kiss the hands of whom they took to be their reverent ruler. Women chanted: " Bush listen carefully; listen well! For Saddam we will kill". The typical cheers heard all the time was: "Our souls and blood, a sacrifice for you Saddam!" Does it still matter whether that was Mr. Saddam or his look-alike?

For the past 50 years which is the whole history of Arab countries past colonization, the only person who enjoyed the cheers: Our Souls and Blood..was Nasser - no less. Nasser, the Egyptian dictator to the West, was the one who sowed the cult for this spirit of Arabism that still hurts the West so much. Nasser died; his teachings live.

Saddam, who is but a faithful fan of Nasser desrves the same respect his predeccessor garnered. A la Nasser, Saddam strolls the streets of his capital shaking hands, receiving kisses and hugs from his fellow men deprived of showers for days, to be sure.

Iraq, the land of great Muslim rulers before the Ottomans, is showing the head of its Caliph, Saddam Hussein to the rest of the muslim and Arab world, in military uniform. The image projected is one of dignity, courage, humility and jihad. Try convincing those not to believe in their lore, symbolised by Saddam the Caliph, and fall in love with a cowboy in blue eyes and bluer jeans! The meagre entourage of the Caliph busied themselves with clearing the path for the Master's strides rather than watching out for "unfriendly" weapons. While citizens were holding guns, no one, including Hussein, even bothered to look at their nozzles. Does it bother you that that was Saddam?

Arabs outside Iraq bowed to the Iraqi media and the Media Minister. Mr. Sahaf gained so much respect and millions of fans through his daily press conference run from Palestine Hotel (what else?) in Baghdad. Many journalists started crticizing Arafat for his failure to have a Sahaf talk on his behalf.The main reason Sahaf is wining the war against Cospiracy Forces led by America, is that he has yet to be caught lying. Every single claim he made and was denied by the White House, was confessed (usually by the British) few days later. Confessions pertaining to dead alien forces, Iraqi severe resistance, or the confiscation of Saddam International Airport.

As one Iraqi friend who happened to be one of the dismissed Iraqis living in London told me last week: " Do those people have brains? If I have a problem with my dad, will I welcome his enemy murdering him in my name?" The "dad" he was refering to was no one else but the one who dismissed him out of his homeland, shocking as it may sound to those sitting at the Pentagon with their alert system rendered dead forever.

About the Author

Al Seidi, Nevine, Egyptian-born (1961) obtained her BA in English Literature(Honours) from Alexandria University Egypt. She grew up in an artistic literary home where her dad acted and wrote scripts while keeping a private office of law as a Solicitor. To please him, she had to read the concise version of Shakespeare at 8 for her summer holiday. She trained as a painter at 6 under the patronage of world-famous Seif Wanli. At the age of 13, she started composing poetry in both English and Arabic. She won many contests as a painter and a poet. She has been a writer to her own circle of literary society, eversince. At the age of 18, she started getting interested in fashion seriously.She was determined to follow a career in fashion albeit studing literature. Highly, interested in theology, philosophy,sociology, economics, politics and very well informed in fashion, beauty and business. She tapped into various professions, before a career in fashion that ended at the threshold of creative writing again.Her moment of initiation was the birth of her only son Omar,now3. "Suddenly, the fashion world seemed a little too selfish a pursuit; motherhood anchored me to the reality of things. Unfortuanately, reality is not as beautiful as the fashion world" - She explains. She is an active journalist writer and poet with a deep interest in political and social affairs. She writes on many web sites on various subjects as well as various publications and periodicals. As a poet, she is published in the US. Some of her work appear in an anthology published by the L ibrary of Congress entitled: Nature's Echoes One of her most interesting poems is published in Millennium Poets by Cader Publisheing. The Poem is titled : Surrogate God . Though amusing, it hardly expresses the poet's belief. It is rather an expression of a mood. She is presently writing her first book: The Cultural Predicament of the Third World The Ethical vs. the Ethnical