Posted on 07/25/2003 5:23:32 PM PDT by Pokey78
Women condemned the publication of photographs of Saddam Hussein's dead sons yesterday, while men supported it.
Speaking in the cafe of the Imperial War Museum in London, Kate Dodsworth said of the pictures: "I think they're quite shocking, almost titillating photographs.
"I do understand that in Iraq people may need to see the images to understand that two perpetrators of the regime have gone, but I don't believe that in this country people need to see the photos to believe that they're gone. So for us I think it's just grotesque photos which don't need to be published at all."
But Miss Dodsworth's father, Edward, who was visiting London from Malvern for her graduation ceremony, said it was necessary to demonstrate that the two men were dead and publication of the photographs was the least bad way to do it.
"You can hardly hang the bodies from a gibbet. The pictures are pretty ghastly but I don't have a problem with that. I was a soldier for a time," he said.
Two women who had brought a total of five children to see the museum were incensed by the photographs. One, a teacher, recoiled at the sight of the two dead men on the front page of yesterday's Telegraph and said: "That is disgraceful. Is that the front page? That makes it even worse. Children walking past in the street could see it. For the Americans to publish the pictures is appalling as well. It's making people less sensitive."
The other woman, a housewife from Buckinghamshire, said: "You don't need to see that. It's enough to tell the world they're dead. It's totally unnecessary. I think journalists have gone too far nowadays. It's all about money as usual."
But Chuck Aleshire, 47, visiting the museum from Chicago, said he definitely supported publication, as otherwise rumours would start that Saddam's sons were still alive. When it was put to Mr Aleshire that despite the photographs, rumours had started in Iraq that the men are still alive, he said: "If they're unwilling to accept that Saddam Hussein's sons are dead, there's no amount of proof that will satisfy them. They could be dragged through the streets of Baghdad and people still wouldn't believe it."
Mr Aleshire was undeterred by the gruesome appearance of the photographs: "After 9/11 they look a whole lot less horrific. I think our frame of reference changed completely on September 11. Seeing it live on television." Mr Aleshire's friend Bill Vandermyde, 46, also from Chicago, said they had been astonished by the way Tony Blair is seen in London: "We've tried to toast Tony Blair several times in this town, and nobody seemed to take too warmly to it. God bless Tony Blair and Her Majesty's forces."
Dr Karen Rogstad, from Derbyshire, was upset by the photographs: "I was concerned about my children. This morning they picked up the paper and saw the faces of the dead men and I was concerned that it was very distressing for the children, and also - as I pointed out to them - those men were someone else's family."
But Dr Rogstad's son Luke, who gave his age as "nearly 12", smiled and shook his head when his mother suggested he might have been upset.
Luke did, however, describe the photographs as "a bit disgusting - it's not really what people want to see first thing in the morning".
Dr Rogstad's daughter Annabelle, nine, said she too had not been upset by the photographs, but she suggested that it might have been better just to broadcast the news of the two men's deaths on the radio "and then people wouldn't have to see it".
Oscar Iorio, 46, who was visiting London from Holland, where he exports fruit and vegetables, and who has an Italian father and a German mother, said it was right to publish the photographs.
He said: "First of all I was shocked by the images, which reminded me of the picture of Mussolini when he was killed in 1945 and trampled by the masses and afterwards hung by the feet from a petrol station and all the blood went to his face. The face of the bearded guy reminded me very much of it. It's a horrific sight to see, but it's part of our reality."
The Americans didn't publish them. The press did. Take it up with the media, lady.
Two possible responses:
1. Why not?
- or -
2. You're absolutely right. Don't hang their bodies from a gibbet - put their HEADS ON PIKES.
To be accurate, they were Saddam's family, and guilty of crimes against humanity. This woman's compassion is misplaced.
They may respect the dead - but they certainly relish the act of killing. Their record goes back centuries!!
It's time that they woke up to reality. They aren't the only ones with an agenda!!
If they're going to complain like we're doing it, we might as well do it.
If we handed the bodies over to the "Iraqi Ruling Council" or whatever it's called, that's what they'd probably do with them.
*snort* I'll say this for the above sentence: It's just so hilariously asinine that it coaxed me into reading the rest of the story :)
Seriously now: "women" condemned the publication of the photographs (all women, you see). And "men" supported it, all of them. Got that?
Speaking in the cafe of the Imperial War Museum in London, Kate Dodsworth said ...
Translation: Andrew Gimson was hanging out in this cafe with his laptop, realized he still had a deadline to meet, and used it as an angle to chat up Kate Dodsworth....
Then he spent about 20 minutes asking various other museum-goers for comments to complete the charade. Quotes from five men/boys and five women/girls and there's your article: "women" condemn the photos, "men" support it.
Hilarious!
Some lefties are trying to use this as yet another issue to bash the administration over. That's all.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.