Arab Media & Society

Meanwhile, America’s 24-hour networks—in particular CNN, FOX News Channel, and MSNBC—offered live “as it happens” coverage before and after confirming that the former Iraqi dictator had been hung.  US correspondents who spend much of their time bound to the Green Zone found themselves forced to rely heavily on the Arab networks for information.  Shortly after 10pm EST, CNN, FOX News Channel and MSNBC were all quoting Arabic media sources that the hanging had taken place.

None of the three major American networks—NBC, CBS or ABC—committed to the same level of coverage that they had all broadcasted on the day Baghdad fell to the Americans, for example.  But then coalition forces entered Baghdad on a Wednesday afternoon in April 2003 and so newsrooms were fully staffed.  Although this was just before the online video/camera-phone boom, American viewers were far more likely to watch the news that evening than they were on the late December night that Saddam Hussein was executed. 

NBC was the first to break into regularly scheduled programming to announce that three "very credible" Arabic-language stations were saying Saddam Hussein’s execution had been carried out.  CBS News broke in four minutes later but had independently confirmed the news.  ABC was last to break into their scheduled programming, however the network had been airing a news program and so the entire focus on the show shifted to cover the execution. 

All the networks had no video upon confirming the news.  CNN, for example, stressed the network’s commitment to sensitive and responsible journalism.  "We aren't going to get these images and just slap them on TV," said CNN's Anderson Cooper.

In fact, none of the networks knew what kind of footage to expect.  Shortly after 3am EST, networks received the official feeds from Arabic network Al Arabiya.  As reported in the media by a number of news executives, the decision as to what to show was made tremendously easy as they were only fed footage of Hussein being led onto the gallows, and the noose being tied around his neck, but the actual hanging was not shown.  Later on, video of Hussein’s broken neck following the hanging was released, but most networks opted to air a wide shot of this image so not to disturb viewers.

“When [Saddam Hussein] was arrested there was a sense of triumph—a sense of gloating by the American networks,” Melhem believes.  “Arab networks discussed his conditions mainly, but they believed for the most part that it was an insult.  This time there was a universal revulsion as to the conditions of his execution, the timing and by those who opposed the presence of the Americans.”     

Death by Videophone and Blog

In these times of widening access to mobile phone technology, it should not be all that surprising that one or more individuals managed to whip their telephones out and record video images of Saddam Hussein’s execution, particularly given that his execution was overseen by the very faction he was accused of oppressing.  It is perhaps more surprising that individuals managed to sneak into the morgue where Hussein’s body was being kept prior to burial to capture video images of his corpse. Such are the times in which we live. 

Their actions made available a video which would draw the attention of millions around the world. “Anyone with access to the Internet saw the video, the gory version,” Melhem notes.

The mobile video version of Saddam Hussein’s execution offered viewers something that major television networks could not: a censorship-free look at the events that took place that late December morning in Baghdad.  Therefore, as categorized by CNN reporter Arwa Damon, the moment the video hit the web, it triggered an unprecedented “Bluetooth Frenzy.” 

“We have so many surveillance cameras around the world now,” notes Alan Reiter, president of Wireless Internet & Mobile Computing, an analytical firm.  “People think big brother is watching them, and we often ask ‘who is watching the watchers?’  Now the answer is ‘we are.’”

Two mobile phone videos surfaced within 48 hours of Saddam Hussein’s execution.  The first is approximately two and a half minutes long.  It appears to have been recorded from inside the chambers where Hussein was hung.  The video quality is incredibly poor, often shaky and blurry, but it essentially picks up where the official video shown by networks worldwide left off. 

The individual who shot the mobile video appears to have filmed from down below the gallows and so when Hussein falls through the trapdoor, the image becomes extremely jittery, but ends with a tight shot of his face. 

Audio quality is poor on the video but there are some decipherable phrases—some of which sparked condemnation by Hussein’s supporters.  Sounds of chaos blanket the first part of the clip as the executioners prepare Hussein for death.  Saddam Hussein himself can be heard repeating prayer verses, of which the word “Allah” (God) is most audible.  Witnesses are also heard telling Hussein to “go to hell”; the former leader responding to taunts saying his tormentors were being unmanly.

The second video to surface, a 27-second clip, was posted on an Iraq-based website believed to support the late-dictator’s Ba’ath Party.  Apparently taken shortly after Hussein’s death, this video shows a hand pulling down the white shroud to expose a close up of the former-President’s face, his neck twisted at a 90 degree angle to the right, with a gaping, bloody neck wound.  The clip, this time of better quality than that of the first released mobile video, also shows wounds to Hussein’s face and blood stains to his white shirt. 

Audio remarks are also clearer on this video.  A number of male voices can be heard whispering at the beginning, then one voice says, “Hurry up, hurry up.  I’m going to count from one to four.  One, two…Hurry up, you’re going to get us into a catastrophe (mossiba).”  Another voice, apparently that of the man taking the video, says, “Just one second, just one second Abu Ali, I’m almost finished.”  A third voice then says, “Abu Ali, you take care of this.”