Saddam double: it's all in the ears

The Herald Sun ^ | March 14, 2003 | Catherine Taylor

[yankeedame]

Saddam double: it's all in the ears

By Catherine Taylor in Tehran
March 14, 2003

TO the untrained eye there seems little doubt that the man in the picture is Saddam Hussein: the small dark eyes, bushy eyebrows and plump jowls all mimic the features of the Iraqi President.

The real Saddam is on the left

But Muslim al-Essadi, an Iraqi doctor who escaped his homeland 24 years ago and now lives in exile in Iran, delights in pointing out the error. "Look at his ear," he says, running his finger over the photo. "The outer edge is shaped like a question mark. Saddam's ear is oval and the lobe is much thicker."

Dr al-Essadi - an expert in what he calls "the architecture of the body" - has compiled cupboards full of images stretching from authentic shots of Saddam as a boy to the latest newspaper clippings and television appearances.

Using a mixture of dentistry, palmistry and Chinese-style face reading, Dr al-Essadi says he can say with certainty that Saddam, 65, uses three body doubles who are chosen at apparent random to fulfil presidential duties ranging from television appearances to meetings with foreign dignitaries.

The verdict: Saddam has not made a public appearance since December 1998.

"I believe he is dead," says Dr al-Essadi. "I have seen secret documents that say he was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer in 1998 and given six months to live."

Regardless of whether the Iraqi leader is dead or alive, Dr al-Essadi insists a recent meeting between Saddam and former British Labour cabinet minister Tony Benn was a fake. "It was obvious from the ears," he says.

And the man interviewed by Dan Rather from American television network CBS last month was also a double.

The giveaway?

The real Saddam has an unusual "lifeline" on the palm of his hand that splits into two, with a second line etched across the fleshy mound under the thumb. "When he lifted his hand to say goodbye to the CBS reporter there was no extra line," Dr al-Essadi says. "Palm lines are like finger prints. They are unique."

As well as his fleshy, round ears and unusual palm, the real Saddam's bottom teeth protrude beyond the top when he smiles, Dr al-Assedi says.

His shoulders are square, unlike one of his favourite doubles who has sloping shoulders. Hussein also has a kink in the bone of his forehead, just above the eyebrow. And his hands "large and thick like a farm worker", according to Dr al-Essadi, sometimes appear finely boned.

In other pictures, his height seems to vary by as much as five centimetres.

These differences have survived the plastic surgery Saddam forces upon his doubles, Dr al-Essadi says.

The Australian

[gurkha]

We should kill them all just to be sure.

[MP5]

That is so damn funny!!!

[tahongawaka]

I'm sure that Iraq has contact lenses, which would explain why he's not seen with his glasses.

When you're woken up at 4am to record a speech, and your contact lenses are in their cleaning solution, you don't want to put them in quite yet, to explain the glasses.

Maybe the one on the left is a body double, also. Until his head is on a pike next to OBL, we may never know.

[Hermann the Cherusker]

Obviously, you've never seen "Moon over Parador".

"People of Parador! I love you!"

[Salvation]

I have heard of the palm lines before, but not the comparison of the ear shapes.


Hmmmm. Saddam dead for 3+ years?

Sounds good to me!

[Salvation]

I mentioned the shoulders in the thread from last night.

[My back yard]

This is all coming together to make sense, at least to me!!! They are calling for the surgeon help from the Russians, and it is for a plastic surgeon, because that Shake and Awe-some bombing the other night actually killed off all the look-alikes. So now what are they to do???

[My back yard]

Hi, makes sense to me now, see my post above this one. :)

[Birdiegirl]

The picture on the right looks like a much older version of the one on the left. I would have to know when these pictures were taken to say if they are the same. The similarities that are hard to duplicate are the moles visible on the left cheek (3), two light ones and a dark one, and the shape of the head. There is at least an 8 year difference in age between the two pictures. I can’t say for sure that I have ever seen the ‘real’ Hussein, but I can say that if these two pictures were taken even a few years apart, they are not the same person. The morph above is a good example, and the differences noted are accurate. But the tilt of the head makes up for the differences in ear angle and the eyebrow position.

[LRS]

Oh! Have mercy! Have mercy!!

[Salvation]

**because that Shake and Awe-some bombing the other night actually killed off all the look-alikes. So now what are they to do???**

Excellent point. Here's come the plastic surgeons from Russia!

[giotto]

Even ignoring the physical differences, there is still a giveaway. The expression in the real Saddam's eyes is focused, cruel, calculating--sort of like Hillary Clinton's eyes! But the eyes of the double reveal a man who seems lost and clueless, a man who is unfortunate enough to look like Saddam, and whose life and family have no doubt been threatened if he does not cooperate. He also probably expects to be killed when he is no longer needed, so this would account for the dead look in his eyes.

This brings up an interesting point. If Saddam has used these doubles for years, the Saddam we have been seeing on TV has been some poor schmuck whose face, voice and demeanor are those of a harmless man. Could this account for some people's unwillingness to accept that Saddam is a ruthless murderer who must be deposed?

[LiteKeeper]

read later

[BSunday]

And also who has been running the country in the meantime?

[Birdiegirl]

I agree with your interesting observation about the eyes, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it is a different person. Yes you can read a lot about a person by ‘looking’ into their eyes and because you also know the personality and past behavior, this contributes to your impressions. In these two photos, the change in the eyes is not in the shape, but in the upper eyelid. This is a change in personality from one photo to another and in this case, it means this person has become increasingly ill-natured, defensive, selfish and dishonest. The puffs under the eyes are also much more defined indicating a self indulgent and jaded perspective and increasing negative mental perspective.

What these pictures show to me is someone who has changed – for the worse over the years and is so lost in denial that he has lost touch with reality. That could explain why you see the right photo as someone who has “died”. That could describe Hussein also. Also, you mentioned that in the right photo, this person’s ‘family’ life is threatened. In looking at a person’s face, the left side of their face indicates their personal, or family life. Compare the right side of the face (external or business life) in the photo to the left side of his face, and you will see a noticeable difference. Yes, his personal well being is being threatened, along with his family – so you are correct again in your analysis. But it again doesn’t mean it is a different person, just a different set of circumstances which has taken their toll on his face.

[Dr.Deth]

"Parador, I love you!"

[Search4Truth]

I want to see him strung up in the public square like Mussolini.

[Birdiegirl]

Now, what we need to do is to compare the eyes of the photo on the left to these eyes and look at the similarities.

http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/asiapcf/9805/28/pakistan.update/bill.clinton.jpg

I have not learned how to post a picture here yet, but that is the link to see Clinton's eyes as compared to Hussein's. Scary similarities.

[theDentist]

Sounds like the plot to "Moon Over Parador".