The Many Faces of Saddam Hussein on The Social Media

ALBAWABA - These days, Saddam Hussein, the former president of Iraq who was executed on 30 December 2006, continues to be remembered on the social media. Under the hashtag of (#صدام_حسين), popular admiration for the man is underlined in different blogs, posts and tweets.

Despite his invasion of Kuwait on 2 August 1990 and the havoc it subsequently created on the domestic (for Kuwait), regional and international levels, many continue to remember the tough Iraqi leader with a surreal sense of memory.

Whilst not necessarily agreeing with his invasion of Kuwait on that hot summer day in August, one on the social media praised his "pride", "patriotism" and "Arabism". What is of major travesty was the fact he was hanged on the first day Eid, one of the main cherished occasions of the Muslim festivals.

Aside from the poetical terms used (one openly says and this is a lose translation "shout out, Iraq is calling, where are you Saddam?, seven Arabs, people, are sentenced to death, O Bu Uday, and after you, we have lost Sham, and Baghdad has become a playground for the Americans") there are much pictures that are being posted.

These include Saddam with the rifle and suit, wearing the red-checkered ghotra headgear, in his abaya smiling and Saddam Hussein with different Arab leaders in military uniform.  Later on, he is seen in court being tried in a black suit with white buttoned shirt that may have signalled his end.

Regardless of how Saddam Hussein was seen by the Arab public, Arab governments and international leaders, his era will continue to be remembered for up till his downfall in 2003, he ruled Iraq for the best part of three decades.

His country saw the never-ending Gulf war with Iran that characterised the 1980s, his invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and the subsequent global war to remove him, the deadly sanctions of Iraq during that decade and the subsequent American-led war to remove him and his Baathist regime in 2003 and the long-time occupation of the country afterwards.

Saddam Hussein is also seen when he was captured, his long hair and his long beard travelling around the country. He was reputed to have been captured in a hole deep underground by American soldiers.

Today all sorts of conspiracy theories are resurfacing about whether this was the ruler that once governed Iraq through the iron-fist. But the Arab street will continue to dwell on his character