Nadia,
What else could a scientist say publicly? Do you suppose his criticism of the inspectors was “free speech”?
Even school children are conditioned to say the right thing in Iraq. I am dying to see what stories come out when Saddam is gone!
THE CULT OF POPULARITY
Fear Has Its Own Language in Iraq
By NEIL MacFARQUHAR
AGHDAD, Iraq — Asked his thoughts about replacing Iraq’s government by force, Sheik Talel al-Khalidi, a member of parliament and tribal leader from Mosul, launches into one of those all-too-common sermons about President Saddam Hussein winning 100 percent of the vote in a referendum last October.
He demands to know how the Bush administration can possibly ignore such overwhelming support, prompting a visitor to note that Americans tend to respect election results when voters actually have a choice.
“But there was a choice!” the sheik protests. “People could vote yes or no.”
Any interview in Iraq runs the risk of capsizing beneath the flood of Orwellian language that courses through all public discussions, rendering true thoughts and sentiments extremely elusive. Occasionally someone angry or reckless enough voices harsh criticism of the Iraqi government, but such encounters are both furtive and extremely rare.
Since most interviews between Iraqis and the Western press are organized and monitored by minders from the Ministry of Information, many Iraqis take the prudent step of garnishing their remarks with some praise for their president. This is an old-school totalitarian regime, after all, where criticizing the president is illegal, and parents have been known to disappear after their children parroted anti-Hussein remarks heard at home.
Foreigners with long experience here believe this is a matter of conditioning, of fear and self-censorship that have become innate. Iraqis are raised from childhood to sing — often literally — the president’s praises.
They are also taught to mistrust foreigners. So when they find themselves talking to a foreigner, they respond as if by rote, often with safe, stock phrases.
The most telling example of this conditioning in recent weeks has been the attempt by arms inspectors to interview scientists confidentially about Iraq’s efforts to develop nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. In the few cases publicized, the scientists involved refused to be interviewed outside Iraq, and even requested the presence of a government representative.
“It is hard to be sure that the person being questioned can tell the truth,” said a Western envoy here. “Iraqis have already internalized how they are supposed to act, what they are supposed to say, how they are supposed to think.”
Often it’s a question of degree. Some Iraqis make a few passing laudatory remarks and get on with the subject at hand, making the interview interesting and worthwhile. Others manage to weave the president’s name into virtually every sentence, overwhelming the possibility that they will say anything a reporter could mistake for an independent, thoughtful judgment.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/19/weekinreview/19WORD.html
Plot certainly does thicken. i would anticipate, amidst everything that is occurring currently, such cheap and possibly criminal acts as blackmail from President Hussein. He is no Pope, he’s a dictator. Simultaneously, i would not expect blackmail from the weapons inspectors themselves who are working under the supervision of the UN Security Council.