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Hello (Dis-Information) Dolly

If war makes strange bedfellows, it makes for even more weird jokes. Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, Saddam’s minister of information, is the fruit bat who, until the fall of Baghdad, gave daily press briefings denying that enemy troops were near capitol, even when you could practically see Blackhawk helicopters hovering above Saddam's palace in the background. Now that Baghdad is being converted by Bechtel into a suburb of LA, al-Sahhaf has wisely taken a powder, but he lives on in our minds and hearts (In the last few days before Baghdad fell, he had a great smile during his press conferences; he knew no one believed a word he said, yet he had to complete the verbal ritual, not unlike Jay Leno or Letterman when their monologues aren't working; that little smile betrayed that he was in on the joke, too).

Not only does al-Sahhaf have his own cult site:

www.Welovetheiraqiinformationminister.com

But he's also getting his own talking doll. Herobuilders.com, the favorite toy company of jingoistic right-wing socio-paths, is bringing out a $25 doll in the Information Minster's likeness. The doll will spew now infamous propaganda lines such as, "There are no American infidels in Baghdad. Never!" and "Our initial assessment is that they will all die."

It's not a terrible idea, really. Why not make a joke out of a guy who was so clearly in on what a joke he had become. Still, I'd rather have one of those hacked Barbie dolls with the GI Joe voice box. Once you've heard Barbie bark, "Lock and load!" in her pink and white cheerleader outfit, all other talking dolls fall short.

Posted by Kadrey at April 17, 2003 08:14 PM

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