Am I crying big tears of shame because I am an American and America violated Saddam Hussein's (search) human rights and basic dignity by publishing pictures of Saddam in his BVDs?
No, I'm not.
For starters, Saddam looks good. Take a picture of me in my briefs and I would be ashamed. I'd look like Homer Simpson and that is embarrassing. Saddam is 68 years old and he ought to be proud of how he looks.
Now, is it a bad thing to secretly snap a picture of a prisoner of war in his underwear and then give it to the newspapers? Sure, I suppose it is. And, I'm sorry for taking the low road, but this didn't bother me a bit.
This is a guy who had people thrown off buildings, had their tongues cut out, had their arms cut off and had a few hundred thousand murdered. So what's a snap in the skivvies really mean when it's a picture of the mother of all bad guys?
Come on, I know you folks are getting all worked up saying, "This is just going to make Muslims mad at us."
Hello? They're mad already. They rioted and killed 17 of their own over a phony story about desecrating the Koran. So we'd assume they're going to make Saddam a poster boy for Arab humiliation, too.
But remember, on Thursday Zarqawi (search) said it was OK — it was sanctified — to kill Muslims while trying to kill Americans. It had been approved by Muslim scholars.
So if they're already willing to kill their suicide bomber and innocent children in the name of killing the infidel, what difference is a picture in briefs going to make?
Another thing: Did you notice that Saddam's hair is jet black? He is 68 and evidently the U.S. jailers give him hair dye so he can remain youthful looking.
The only thing that bothers me about this whole episode is the reason that was reportedly given by a military source for releasing the pictures — that it would be a body blow to the insurgency, that they would see he's just a tired old man. That's like saying, "Those Abu Ghraib (search) pictures will show them who's in charge around here."
It didn't work that way then and it won't work that way now.
Still, I liked the picture.
That's My Word.
Watch John Gibson weekdays at 5 p.m. ET on "The Big Story" and send your comments to: myword@foxnews.com
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