Tribal Elder Seeks Saddam Sons Bodies for Burial

There were never so many as now.

continues to disgrace our country with their lies and barbaric behavior.
To use the dead sons as a power play this disgusts me.

KC

Dear Mr. pResident:

In this highly volatile case, the relevant words are spelled like this: honor, dignity, respect, valor, graciousness.

Honor your enemy in the midst of their defeat, and move on. Give them the bodies for burial in their tradition.

Ever see a sports champion gloating over the defeat of a rival. It's small, and it's cheap -- and everyone watching knows it.

Watch Lance Armstrong, now that he has won a 5th Tour de France. I hope and expect he will give us all an example of grace in victory.

Pay attention to America, Mr. pResident -- the economy is in the toilet, and natural disasters are piling up as your administration continues its wholesale assault on the natural world. We need some authentic leadership in America and the world, not more hard-assed posturing. Be a real man. Show some honor and respect.

The U.S. is afraid that X rays won't show the fractures suffered by Uday when he was injured five years ago, and thus the world will know that the two bodies are not those of Saddam's sons.

They are Saddams son's. What is disgusting is that they are being used as bait to draw out Saddam. Let them be buried according to Islamic belief. The bodies should be turned over to their relatives.

for war trophys

Check this link out.

http://www.joevialls.co.uk/transpositions/hussein.html

Maybe they died long ago and were ressurected for another media event or maybe their characters were "killed off" like in a TV or movie series. Was Saddam Hussein a CIA employee?

Today's History lesson comes from The Iliad, by Homer.

In this Homeric epic, the tale is recounted of how Helen was spirited away from Greece to Troy (Turkey). Among the Greek warriors who sought to reclaim Helen: Achilles, the invincible (ahem, invincible that is all execpt for one small area on his heel: the fabled Achilles Heel). Pay attention here, this part is important.

At any rate, as the story goes niether the Greeks nor the Trojans were winning in this extended (ten year) war. Achilles then challenged and met the Trojan champion -- Ajax -- in single, mortal combat.

Achilles killed Ajax in a ferocious fight -- but then he tied Ajax's body to his chariot and dragged the carcas around the city of Troy to taunt the remaining Trojan warriors. He really pissed them off. Fury is the word.

And in their fury as they watched the body of their champion be humiliated (in their faces) the Tojans hurled their spears over the city walls at Achilles in his chariot of death and humiliation. One of the spears struck Achilles full on -- in the heel.

And that is how he died. He was acting like a goon in the World Wrestling Federation -- and he paid the price. So did his nation.

Thus, Mr. Bush*, your homework assignment for tonight is to re-read The Iliad, and tomorrow you will want to try The Odyssey: for you are taking America on a "long, strange, trip." Indeed. Speaking as just one citizen, I'd like to say that I insist that our nation go forward not as a WWF-cartoon-macho-Achilles clone, but rather with honor, dignity, respect.

To use a modern expression, class (not crass) is what America needs to show the world.


(The metaphysically inclined, or at least tolerant, may wish to check the "Mars in Your Face: Summer 2003" thread in DU's The Meeting Room. As Harvard Professor John Finely -- now somewhere in the Elysian Fields -- used to say: "It applies.")

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=111&topic_id=289&mesg_id=289&page=

Ajax (both the Greater and the Lesser) were Greeks and allies of Achilles/ The Trojan champion was Hector, son of Priam.

"On this he treated the body of Hector with contumely: he pierced the sinews at the back of both his feet from heel to ancle and passed thongs of ox-hide through the slits he had made: thus he made the body fast to his chariot, letting the head trail upon the ground. Then when he had put the goodly armour on the chariot and had himself mounted, he lashed his horses on and they flew forward nothing loth. The dust rose from Hector as he was being dragged along, his dark hair flew all abroad, and his head once so comely was laid low on earth, for Jove had now delivered him into the hands of his foes to do him outrage in his own land."

http://classics.mit.edu/Homer/iliad.22.xxii.html

Achilles was not killed while dragging the body of Hector around the walls of Troy, as he daily dragged Hector's body three times around the grave of Patroclus. Eventually, even Achilles' wrath was spent and he eventually surrendered the body of Hector to his father, Priam after a period of weeks.

You are right, it was Hector.

I must have dozed off during that part of class. Guess I need to re-read the Iliad, too !

that you always leave your enemy an honorable way out after you have beaten him? Didn't he say that if you don't leave your enemy an honorable way out that you will fight him forever?

:freak:
dbt

n/t

You have got to be kidding ... and in one night. Bush probably thinks the Illiad is something you give kids if they ingest poison. He is Mr Malapropism embodied in body that murders the English language (grammar,syntax, pronunciation,etc.etc) while it murders everything else in sight (the environment, the Iraqis, the economy, the soldiers, the truth, etc.etc.). After all he was pictured helping write the SOTU address, but now he claims he did not know what was in it. Now is that very hard to believe? Hardly!

the picture of Rumsfeld shaking Saddam's hand (1983)..

Rumsfeld displays the dead bodies of Saddam's sons....(2003)

Future historians will have a heyday.

One small step towards gaining some goodwill; but the admin's hubris will ruin us again.

Sick sobs are the bushits.

Yes, these two men were bastards. And regardless of the question of whether they should have been taken alive, it's difficult to mourn their death.

Fine.

But it is extremely important beyond that to respect the customs and rites of the Iraqi people with regards to proper burial. To do anything else is a direct slap in the face of their religion and their culture. That is not the way to win the hearts of the Iraqi people but it is a sure-fire way to increase their resentment.

Why are such simple things apparently so difficult for this idiotic administration to figure out? Never mind. The question answers itself.

Please don't get me wrong, I'm not defending this, it's petty, mean and quite frankly I have a hard time believing that a US Commander would actually say something as stupid as this.

But if this is the policy, most likely they would rather not have shrines to Saddam's regime erected. These could easily become rallying points for anti-American sentiment. Thus endangering our soldiers.

War is hell.