11/27/2003: Iraqi graffiti

[Undertoad]

Miles of bare walls they might not respect, a sudden new freedom, and a lawless atmosphere results in... graffiti. This Newsday story details it, with some great moments:

Hussein loyalists shout their yearning for the deposed dictator -- "Saddam will come again" -- followed by the coda on the same line from a detractor: "Through my behind!"

"I walk around reading these writings, and some of them move me so much I don't know whether to laugh or to cry," said Amir Nayef Toma, 52, a retired radar operator in the Iraqi army. "You want to know what Iraqis are thinking? Read these walls."
...
Samplings of the Arabic slogans include: "Down Saddam the infidel and long live Bush the believer!" "A thousand Americans but not one Tikriti," referring to residents of Hussein's hometown.

Many taunt the deposed dictator: "Saddam the dirty, the son of the dirty, in which septic tank are you hiding now?"

Hussein's family also comes in for abuse: "Where are your wife and daughters, Saddam? Are you pimping them in Jordan?"
...
Toma, the former radar operator, predicted the writing would stop in another six months. "We Iraqis are so full of suffering and bitterness, these feelings are just pouring out of us," said Toma, who has carefully transcribed more than 100 slogans in a small notebook. "Soon we will realize we can speak out freely. We don't have to write on the walls."

Follow the story link for a few other choice translations.