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Iraqi Idol
By Todd Brashear

Announcer: Our next finalist hails from a middle-class neighborhood in Hillah. This former English student turned Information Minister is one funny guy. After killing at clubs in Basra, Mosul and Kirkut, he’s here tonight hoping to be crowned the next Iraqi king of comedy. Please put your hands together for Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf.

[applause]

Sahaf: Thank you. Thanks very much. I just have a brief statement about the international gang of villains, these aggressors.

[laughter]

Sahaf: What they say about a breakthrough in Najaf is completely an illusion. They are sending their warplanes to fly very low in order to have vibrations on these sacred places. They are trying to crack the buildings by flying low over them.

[laughter]

Sahaf: The aggressors are not in Baghdad. They are not even within 100 miles of Baghdad.

[laughter]

Sahaf: There is no presence of American infidels in the city of Baghdad.

[tank shell lands a few hundred yards away]

Sahaf: We are not afraid. And don’t you be afraid.

[laughter]

###

Western media outlets have called him the “Disinformation Minister” and “Comical Ali,” and no matter where you stand in the war debate, you have to admit that Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, Iraq’s chief PR practitioner, has been the star of a comedy of errors. As American and British forces have run rough-shod over his country’s troops, Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf denied, lied and defied right up to the very end – smiling all the while – until he fled Baghdad for his own safety.

And inexplicably, this newly crowned master of spin has become an unlikely pop culture icon. On a British radio show, one caller described him as “sexy.” On at least one website, visitors can purchase T-shirts with his likeness and the phrase, “We are in control.”

Even more unusual, his celebrity knows no boundaries. In a war that divided practically the entire world, everyone agrees – this guy is funny. Many Americans looked forward to his daily press conferences because, to them, he was a Saturday Night Live skit waiting to happen. Faisal Salman, managing editor of the Lebanese newspaper As-Safir, wrote that Arab television viewers “are eager to listen to his funny words.” Some even called his press conferences the “al-Sahaf Show.”

The sad thing is, war obviously is not a laughing matter. Thousands of Iraqis have died. More than one hundred coalition soldiers have been killed. So why do we laugh? Is it because we need something – anything – to help us deal with the violence? Is it because our news organizations have turned grim reality into 24-hour reality TV? Or do we all just have a really insensitive sense of humor? I don’t know. Maybe a combination of all three. But I find it fascinating how one man – one goofball – can capture the world’s attention with his unique approach to public relations.

It’s an extreme example, but it makes you realize the power of an interesting spokesperson.

So, who is your company spokesperson? If you don’t mind someone with a heavy accent and a checkered past, I know a really funny guy who just hit the job market.

E-mail the author: Todd Brashear

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