Tele-Technologies, Control, and Sousveillance: Saddam Hussein — De-Deification and the Beast

Abstract

This paper examines two disturbing, post-2003 Iraq War representations of Saddam Hussein – the televised inspection of his disheveled body on his capture (December 2003) and television and internet footage of his execution (December 2006). These representations epitomize two very different examples of government control of information within the emergent tele-technological environment of Web 2.0. The portrayal of Saddam Hussein as a captured beast was controlled by the U.S. military, while sanitized footage of his execution was staged by the Iraqi government and intended to demonstrate that Saddam Hussein died “like all tyrants, frightened and terrified” (in the words of the Iraqi Prime Minister). While both official images intended to draw a line under the continued insurgencies in Iraq by depriving insurgents of their leader-in-hiding and leader-under-trial, the official version of his death was subverted through the distribution of illegally captured mobile phone video footage, which was subsequently retransmitted in mainstream news media. This raises questions about the nature and limits of strategic political communication in the context of Web 2.0 technologies where shocking but popular “sousveillant” content can reframe the ethical boundaries of mainstream news.