Secret photo of a cowering dictator
By BRAD CLIFTON
January 9, 2004
THIS appears to be the moment Saddam Hussein was dragged from his hole and exposed to the world – but it is a snapshot the US military did not want the world to see.
The photograph, apparently taken in the seconds after Saddam's capture near Tikrit last month, appeared for the first time yesterday on a military-related website.
The image shows a US soldier posing for the camera as he pins the bearded dictator's body and face to the dirt.
A clearly-distressed Saddam lies on his stomach as members of the US 4th Infantry Division surround him.
US military officials refused to confirm if the photograph was genuine.
The photo was published on the US website Military.com after it was supplied to one of the site's contributors, former journalist John Weisman.
"This photograph of Saddam Hussein in the moment of his capture was e-mailed to me by a friend in special forces who was damn proud of what his former colleagues in Iraq had accomplished when they pulled the dictator out of his hole," Mr Weisman said. "I thought the photo deserved wide dissemination."
Mr Weisman said he had refused military requests to remove the photograph from the site. The officials had claimed it was a security risk.
"While the soldiers in the field may have loved the idea of showing Saddam au naturel, not everyone felt that way," Mr Weisman wrote on the website.
"In fact, Military.com received a call from an official asking them to remove the photo for national security reasons.
"To me, this official was being myopic and his perception has not been echoed by the guys in the trenches, who obviously know a great picture when they see one.
"I'd like to see this photograph posted in every public building in the US so Americans can be reminded to thank the American soldiers who put their lives on the line every day to keep this nation safe and free."
Military.com spokesperson Anne Dwane insisted the picture was genuine.
"Much of our material comes in anonymously and, given our military membership, we have no reason to doubt it,' Ms Dwane said. "It certainly looks like Saddam."
If the authenticity of the picture is proved, it would have been taken by a member of the 600-strong force that captured Saddam at a farmhouse near Tikrit.
Although official army photographers were on hand to record the moment, the picture may have been snapped by a soldier, many of whom were known to carry small cameras while on patrol.
