On the 18 the New York Post reported on the plan in Iraq to humiliate Saddam by posting flyers all around Baghdad depicting him in various "personas" culled from the wags on the Internet. Elvis and Zsa-Zsa Gabor were the leading contenders in this Web-created wave of psych-war:
"We're going to do something devious with these," Lt. Col. Steve Russell told Reuters last week, as he looked at the spoof Saddam photos taken from the Web, which may be slapped up around Tikrit as early as today. "Most of the locals will love 'em, and they'll be laughing. But the bad guys are going to be upset, which will just make it easier for us to know who they are."Then, in less than a day, the killjoys at the Pentagon weighed in:Sgt. David Cade, a psychological-operations specialist, said, "It's mostly good for troop morale, but if we can put these posters up in Tikrit, and the enemy can't take them down, then at least it shows who owns the streets."
Angry U.S. generals yesterday ordered an immediate halt to a plan to pepper Saddam's hometown Tikrit with bizarre computer-altered posters of the ex-Iraqi dictator dressed as Elvis - or bare-chested rock star Billy Idol.Well, that's easy for her to say. She doesn't have to find a size 13 pump. Or a dictator in hiding for that matter. Posted by Vanderleun at August 19, 2003 7:29 AMThe Pentagon feared that local commanders' plan to use the posters, depicted in yesterday's Post and that also include Saddam as a tarted-up Zsa Zsa Gabor and Rita Hayworth, would be too inflammatory. "This is not something we either approved of in advance or condoned. It was the idea of a small patrol unit of the Army 4th's Infantry Division," said a Pentagon spokeswoman.
