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Gun of Saddam

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Sonny San
 
Reply Mon 31 May, 2004 03:44 am
What would you make of this?




Report: Bush keeps Saddam's gun at White House
Sunday, May 30, 2004 Posted: 1725 GMT



WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- A handgun that Saddam Hussein was clutching when U.S. forces captured him in a hole in Iraq last December is now kept by President Bush at the White House, Time magazine reported Sunday.

Military officials had the pistol mounted after it was seized from Saddam near his hometown of Tikrit last year, and soldiers involved in the capture gave it to Bush in a private meeting, Time said.

The magazine quoted a visitor who had been shown the gun, which is kept in a small study off the Oval Office where Bush displays memorabilia. It is the same room where former President Clinton had some of his encounters with former intern Monica Lewinsky.

Bush shows Saddam's gun to select visitors, telling them it is unloaded, both now and when Saddam was captured, Time reported.

"He really liked showing it off," Time quoted a visitor who had seen the gun as saying. "He was really proud of it."

A White House spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/US/05/30/saddam.gun.reut/index.html
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Type: Discussion • Score: 1 • Views: 770 • Replies: 17
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Phoenix32890
 
  1  
Reply Mon 31 May, 2004 03:54 am
It seems reasonable to me. Saddam was the focus of a huge manhunt. I have no problem with Bush keeping a souvenir of his capture.

(Well..................if I want to get psychological, we know that Bush had it in for Saddam on account of the fact that Saddam attempted to kill Bush's father. If one views a gun as a phallic symbol as many do, symbolically, Bush has emasculated the dictator. Therefore, keeping the gun where Bush can see it is a constant reminder to him that he has brought the man down.)
0 Replies
 
Joe Nation
 
  1  
Reply Mon 31 May, 2004 04:00 am
It's called trophy worship. Many times the perpetrator of a crime will take something of his prey and use it later to remind him of the events surrounding his actions. It can be some personal belonging or just some other object that was nearby. It is fairly important that the trophy be something that may have symbolized power, rather like, but not identical with, the mounting of the head and horns of a deer, or just the horns.

It's purpose is to remind the perpetrator that the event or events were real, the self esteem of such persons is usually so low that even they don't know or believe what they are capable of. Showing the object to others is a means of gathering re-enforcement or admiration, something that the perpetrator is unable to gain through more social activities.

Joe
(heh, heh)
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Phoenix32890
 
  1  
Reply Mon 31 May, 2004 04:06 am
Quote:
the self esteem of such persons is usually so low that even they don't know or believe what they are capable of.


In some cases I might agree with you, but I don't think that you can make a blanket statement about people who take trophies. I think that "trophies" have been acquired for time immemorial, from people with all levels of self esteem, both great and inadequate.
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Sonny San
 
  1  
Reply Mon 31 May, 2004 04:08 am
Phoenix, many thanks for your usual response full of wisdom.

Joe Nation, I agree but there is one thing that we are ignoring.
Saddam's personal gun denoted the misuse of power. There maybe thousands of other items that the president can keep as a symbol or a souvenir. This gun belong to a dictator and the best place for it would be new Abu Ghraib prison that Bush plans to leave as a legacy of this war. It could be displayed there for the inmates and visitors to see and 'admire' Bush.
To keep it in the WH premises is silly and cheap, IMHO!
0 Replies
 
Sonny San
 
  1  
Reply Mon 31 May, 2004 04:10 am
Simply because to 'acquire' this gun, almost 800 marines are dead and counting, not to mention Iraqi dead that runs in excess of ten thousand people.
0 Replies
 
Radikal
 
  1  
Reply Mon 31 May, 2004 05:25 am
>
If one bears in mind that gw has a shallow mind with the maturity level of a 6 yr. old it make sense.
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Sonny San
 
  1  
Reply Mon 31 May, 2004 05:31 am
Radikal, thanks. Your statement suggests that the president has his babysitters in Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice and Rove.

;-)
0 Replies
 
au1929
 
  1  
Reply Mon 31 May, 2004 07:10 am
Considering Bush's macho facade and childlike mind I am surprised he does not carry it around his waist in a holster. I would not for a moment doubt in his mind he believes that he personally captured Saddam.
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Joe Nation
 
  1  
Reply Mon 31 May, 2004 07:20 am
Phoenix:
I was being a bit facetious, though I think it was a pretty good piece of psycho-babble. I thought I would get a rise out of someone if I linked criminal-type trophies to deer heads, but I didn't think it would be you.

Joe
0 Replies
 
Phoenix32890
 
  1  
Reply Mon 31 May, 2004 07:24 am
Joe- I'm a sucker for psychobabble! Laughing

Anyhow, when you spoke of deer heads, I was thinking about the times that I have visited Teddy Roosevelt's summer house on Long Island. Now he was no lightweight, yet the house is full of trophies that he had bagged!

I don't think that he had any self esteem problems! Laughing
0 Replies
 
Joe Nation
 
  1  
Reply Mon 31 May, 2004 07:43 am
Actually, and I'm not being facetious here, Teddy Roosevelt is a prime example overdoing to make up for perceived short-comings. As a child he was sickly, asthmatic, near-sighted and small, he whipped himself into shape and proceeded to perform all kinds of derring-do precisely in order to raise his stature amongst his peers. Wicked left jab, I'm told.

He didn't blind himself to reality however, and he guided his own toughness into purpose whether that was pushing through the Panama Canal Treaty (big stick in hand) or his vision of what the world ought to be like resulting in his work on the environment and the creation of the National Parks.

==
I'm not sure anyone sees the same kind of purposeful toughness in the current office holder. I hope the gun ends up in the Joint Bush Presidential Library (Home of the Two One Termers.)


Joe
0 Replies
 
dyslexia
 
  1  
Reply Mon 31 May, 2004 08:11 am
this is my rifle-
this is my gun.
this is for killing-
this is for fun.
0 Replies
 
JustanObserver
 
  1  
Reply Mon 31 May, 2004 08:23 am
I found out about this while I was watching Indiana Jones and the first thing that popped into my head was the Indy phrase:

"It BELONGS in a MUSEUM!"

Laughing
0 Replies
 
Eva
 
  1  
Reply Mon 31 May, 2004 10:09 am
Oh no, invading Iraq wasn't a personal thing at all... Rolling Eyes
0 Replies
 
Rick d Israeli
 
  1  
Reply Mon 31 May, 2004 12:07 pm
Could this not be just an "urban legend" (that's the correct name, right?)...I mean, one visitor said to have seen the gun. No comment by the White House.
0 Replies
 
Phoenix32890
 
  1  
Reply Mon 31 May, 2004 01:24 pm
Well, here's a reference:

http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/CalgarySun/News/2004/05/31/479869.html
0 Replies
 
Rick d Israeli
 
  1  
Reply Mon 31 May, 2004 01:26 pm
OK, I'm convinced. Thanks for the reference Phoenix.
0 Replies
 
 

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