Real
or fake...a photograph allegedly taken while Saddam was dragged out
of his bunker by US forces.
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.
