Friday, July 25, 2003
Uday and Qusay Hussein killed
The Americans released the photos of Uday and Qusay Hussein to prove to Iraqis that they are dead – killed in a shoot-out in Mosul.
The first photos were of terrible quality, all in darkness and one body only showed the side of the head, taken in the house where they were killed. Many Iraqis were unconvinced and I can see why. The Americans have shown the actual bodies to some local Iraqis who personally knew them and it seems they have confirmed that the brothers are dead. Few seem to believe the Americans even if they hated Saddam’s regime. Some Iraqis are more convinced by the photo of Uday than of Qusay and an x-ray showed the leg pins that were inserted after the assassination attempt on Uday many years ago.
Later photos were taken in the mortuary after the bodies had been cleaned and stitched up, but then they looked terribly artificial with mono-coloured skin and Qusay had had his beard shaved (after death, it seems). Some Iraqis didn’t like this because they don’t touch a dead body, they bury it immediately, so the Americans haven’t quite got it right either way.
