ABSTRACT
On 9 April 2003 repeated displays on television showed a colossal bronze statue of Saddam Hussein being pulled down. The statue broke in two, and the giant head was subsequently paraded through the streets of Baghdad. To further humiliate the object of their rage, some men were beating the despot’s head with their shoes. Paintings of Saddam were also removed from buildings and public places and trampled upon. At the time the whereabouts of Saddam Hussein himself were unknown, and it was uncertain whether he was still alive. In fact he was not taken prisoner until eight months later. The newspapers published photos of content Iraqis who pulled and tore the colossus: In a striking manner the fall of the statue visualised the fall of the regime. Some of this massive exposure has turned out to have been mediastaged.1 Still, in a historical perspective the interesting point is that the statue of the ruler was perceived almost as a substitute for the living person. This brings to mind the long tradition in Iraq/Mesopotamia for identifying the image with the person represented and for punishing in effigy.
