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| Iraq |
| Would-Be Martyrs March Through Baghdad |
| 2003-03-05 |
| from the Associated Press; edited for length BAGHDAD, Iraq - Demonstrators clad in white pledged Wednesday to become martyrs for Iraq, parading through the capital as Saddam Hussein sought to show he had his people's support against a possible U.S.-led war to oust his regime. The US Department of Defense is happy to help you realize your martyrdom ambitions. Chanting "long live the leader," thousands of policemen, firefighters and civil defense forces joined the march with the 60-member contingent of "Banzai!" Saddam has repeatedly said in recent weeks that foreign invaders would meet "suicide" at the gates of the Iraqi capital. Sounds more like a Monty Python skit than a military strategy. Interior Minister Mahmoud Diab al-Ahmed told reporters that they had chosen martyrdom "for the sake of the nation's glory and dignity and for the sake of humiliating the invaders." That long black JDAM's comin' down Feel I'm knockin' on heaven's door . . . |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #6 You don't suppose there with the KKK , what with all them white robes an all, God help em if Jesse Jackson gets wind of em! |
| Posted by: Wills 2003-03-05 16:04:54 |
| #5 Or perhaps they're "criminals" who were offered a choice between death by slow torture and an "honorable" fate. |
| Posted by: jrosevear 2003-03-05 15:58:31 |
| #4 I very much doubt that they were all willing participants, Saddam prolly has their families hostage... |
| Posted by: seafarious 2003-03-05 15:43:21 |
| #3 no, white is the color of a burial shroud. this is standard practice in parades like this. OFten the marchers will be wrapped very similarly with how they would be buried. (making concessions for mobility to march ofcourse) Not sure wether there's any kind of purity symbolism there with the color choice, but it's supposed to indicate a preparedness for death. -DS "the horns hold up the halo" |
| Posted by: DeviantSaint 2003-03-05 15:34:45 |
| #2 Bedsheets probably. Now they can go home and put them back on the beds. And then hide under them. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-03-05 15:07:52 |
| #1 Don't ridicule them too much. Maybe many of them just wanted to avoid instant martyrdom inflicted by Saddam's thugs. It's interesting that they were clad in white. They might need the cloth in a few weeks. For waving. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2003-03-05 14:55:01 |