Sorry, it’s admittedly not very thought out nor well-executed but Santa Claus was the most interesting of several bearded visages that crossed my mind upon seeing the Hussein pic, others being Abraham Lincoln, Uncle Sam, Jesus, and yeah, Osama.
Christmas came early, but for whom?
My first thoughts on seeing the pictures of Saddam were, “I thought Walter Matthau was dead?”
I actually thought Santa the moment I saw him. I never considered Jesus, Lincoln, or Uncle Sam though. I guess they could work too.
There was a report that the whole news briefing where they said “We got him” and the Arab journalists jumped up and down yelling was basically staged. They specifically picked friendly Arab journalists and sat them center-front, already knowing what was in store.