The Cellar - 12/15/2003: Father Saddam textbook page

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12/15/2003: Father Saddam textbook page

http://cellar.org/2003/sadd.jpg

Another one from an Iraqi blogger, this time Iraq At a Glance, published from Baghdad.

These days Iraqi schoolchildren are taught using the same textbooks they had before; they just tear out all the pages referencing Saddam. Most of them, that is. Iraqi blogger Ays found this page (translated, obviously) still in the book of his friend's ten-year-old brother. From Ays' blog entry:

Quote:

My friend’s brother is ten years old, his parents said that he didn’t let anyone tear Saddam’s pictures from his books! Saying 'no, no, I love Baba Saddam' with a fear look at his eyes (which was certainly acquired from his parents). Anyhow, when we carefully examine such things, we can say that those pictures with the influence of the press and broadcasting could be dangerous things affecting on Iraqi children.

How could it not be? Ays goes on:

Quote:

I can assure that a large proportion of children in Iraq hate Kuwait and Iran ..why?? because 'Uncle Saddam' said that they were our enemies. So we must start a new education plan to teach our children how to make friendships with all the good people, all the religion and all the countries, and forget the wars, terror and fear.

I love the children and I am worried about their life, they are our men and women in the future, so when we educate them well, let them live in boon and make them feel safe, I am sure that they will continue building our country , raising up their children on the same morals and make good relations with others, I mean prosperous Iraq will be built.

I feel humbled to see wisdom like this and the will to make their world a better place. The wisdom and the hope are beautiful beyond words.

I am reminded of (regular Cellarite) warch's steadfast belief in Mister Rogers, so deep that she could not believe that sitting close to the cracked television tube could hurt her. What if your own personal Mister Rogers turned out to be Saddam Hussein?

To infect the children like this is a horror. Seeing it makes me understand the current confusion a little bit more.

And that is also the importance of yesterday's (capture) images. Hopefully, for some children and some adults, those images of Saddam will replace the images in the textbooks.

Aren't those kids a bit caucasian? Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I'd have thought there'd be an effort to make them look more typically Iraqi. It looks like they just cribbed the picture from Dick & Jane.

Also, I'm sure it's just coincidence because they're pointing to the picture of the great father, but the resemblance to the Nazi raised-arm salute is hard to miss.

Quote:

Originally posted by SteveDallas
Aren't those kids a bit caucasian? Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I'd have thought there'd be an effort to make them look more typically Iraqi. It looks like they just cribbed the picture from Dick & Jane.

It's possible that it is some picture book from Europe or the US. The text and the portrait look pasted in, covering whatever was there before.

No no no, can't you see? Those kids are subtley trying to show US Forces where Saddam is hiding without tipping him off. Crazy kids!

That reminds me of the Russian textbooks.

The VERY first page always had a picture of Lenin, the national anthem and the red flag along with the coat of arms

Basic reading was taught through stories about the great communist party and "Uncle Lenin", we ALL wore badges with a picture of young Lenin

Later we'd get different types of badges, some distinguishing others for being "rank 1" etc...

Match books had problems like: "In what yea has the glorious Soviet Union have spent 50 years under the wonderful, just, and free rule of Lenin's Communism? When will it be 100?" (This was a funny one, because the 100 never happened...)

We did a LOT of reading about the terrible bourgeoisie oppression of the proletariat in the western world and how one day the world is bound to unite under the fair and just communist rule.

Keep in mind that I only went to school for 2 years and received this level of propaganda.

It could have been worse:

Actually, looking at the picture a second time, it looks like they are learning to disco...

Part of me wants to create "We love goatse."

I'm working hard to suppress that part of me.

Quote:

Originally posted by vsp
Part of me wants to create "We love goatse."

I'm working hard to suppress that part of me.

Why not make a "We Love King George!" one instead?

Quote:

Originally posted by FileNotFound
Basic reading was taught through stories about the great communist party and "Uncle Lenin", we ALL wore badges with a picture of young Lenin

Baby Lenin -- awww, ain't he cute?

The kid on the right looks like he likes Baba Twinkie. The one third from the right looks like the nature of his 'love' for Father Saddam is better left unsaid...

Quote:

Originally posted by FileNotFound
Why not make a "We Love King George!" one instead?

Because making "We love goatse" and "We love King George" would be redundant?

Can we say brainwash? Jesus this is worse than the phamplets they handed out in school about how the government is here to protect us, complete with cartoons of people flashing big cheesy smiles at officers passing by!

The state propaganda for kids doesnt seem nearly as potent as that of radical Islam. And I remember that creepy Palestinian website with the martyr action figures...Hey that's right! Bush has an action figure too... Anyhoo, I think it was a Friedman column last week, saying something to the effect that we want Iraq to go from Saddam to Jefferson without stopping at Khomeini. He was making an arguement that an Islamic republic might be the only way to move anywhere forward.

What's weird is that not only was the speech cloud pasted on top of someone else's cartoon, but it looks like the word "Father" was pasted on top of some other text. I wonder what they originally called Saddam ..

Oh, and here: