Saddam and America

I've just bought a copy of a book that has been prominently displayed at my local bookshop for the past few weeks. Because it has a free video CD that comes with it, I just couldn't resist. The book is titled "Saddam was Not Executed," and it is by an Egyptian author named Anis Al-Deghidy. The book is in Arabic, but here is a picture of its English cover:


I don't know anything about the book yet other than the fact that the guy in the store told me it is very popular. I asked him if he thought Saddam was still alive, and when I asked where he thought he might be, he gave me an answer along the lines of "Saddam surrendered Iraq to America...he is under American protection."

I then went next door to buy my food staples, which by the way include whole wheat bread, cheddar cheese, orange juice, Ritz crackers, ice cream, and bad Egytian potato chips. I also make salad sometimes, so don't worry.

I showed the cashier my newly purchased literary masterpiece and he said "yes, Saddam was not killed. Saddam is good. America made Saddam, and then he stood up to them." He wouldn't really get into it any further than that, but as I walked outside, my roommate was finishing a conversation which apparently began with one of the grocery store workers telling my roommate that he had a German-Jewish friend. Neither of us are sure where that information came from, but regardless it led to him telling us how all people are the same, whether Muslim, Christian, or Jew, and that we all go through the same things in life. For example, America was nothing, and now it is powerful. Egypt, too, was nothing, and then it was powerful, and now it is nothing again. He was very nice, and we couldn't really disagree with him, and despite the fact that I sometimes wonder how genuine these kumbaya street discussions are, it left me with a good feeling. We wished him a happy Ramadan and walked home.