The Saddam Santa card to celebrate Xmas
( 2003-12-23 16:43) (Agencies)
Christmas arrived early this
year for some 30,000 US troops in Tikrit who caught Saddam Hussein near his home
town a week ago, and how better to celebrate than with a captivating card?
Captain
Warner of the 1-22 Battalion of the U.S. Fourth Infantry Division smiles
as he points at a Christmas card soldiers have made featuring the face of
former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein manipulated to look like the head of
Santa Claus, December 22, 2003. [Reuters] | The
Saddam Santa card features a picture of the heavily bearded former dictator as
he looked when he was pulled from his hiding hole last weekend, except Saddam is
depicted in a Father Christmas hat and his whiskers are whiter than white.
The picture and others like it are springing up as decorations around the
barracks of a US army unit in Iraq and have become popular as greeting cards.
"First Battalion, 22nd Infantry wishes you a very Merry Christmas!" reads the
card which is also decorated with the battalion's insignia.
Pictures of Saddam taken after he was pulled out of a hole in the ground 15
km (nine miles) south of Tikrit drew criticism from the Vatican which said they
were degrading, but have proven popular with US soldiers who regard him as an
evil dictator.
"The fact that we have captured Saddam makes the ending of the year a lot
better than the uncertainty of the beginning," said battalion commander
Lieutenant Colonel Steven Russell, who sent one of the cards back home to
Oklahoma.
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