News & Observer | newsobserver.com | Kitsch finds humor in war

Published: Jul 13, 2008 12:30 AM
Modified: Jul 13, 2008 01:01 AM

Kitsch finds humor in war

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Hannah Allam covers the Middle East for McClatchy Newspapers. E-mail her at hallam@mcclatchydc.com. To read more of this writer's blog -- as well as those of other McClatchy foreign correspondents -- go to http://news.mcclatchy.com/.

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Five years into the war, business is still booming for the producers of cheesy Iraq souvenirs. In addition to kiosks on U.S. bases or at the Baghdad airport, dozens of Web sites have sprung up to hawk Iraqi kitsch.

It should be noted that few Iraqis actually buy the stuff; customers are mainly private security contractors, U.S. soldiers, American government employees and foreign journalists or aid workers.

You can still buy those played-out "Who's your Baghdaddy?" T-shirts or a cheap watch emblazoned with Saddam Hussein's mustachioed face. The "I (heart) Sadr City" bumper stickers are newer. There are also beach towels printed with the English-Arabic message typically found on the back end of a security convoy: "Caution! Stay 100 m back or you will be shot!"

Nonregulation sew-on patches come with all kinds of slogans: "American League Infidel Death Angel," "Al Qaeda Hunting Club" and, of course, "Mission Accomplished."

You can golf in polo shirts from the mythical "Baghdad Country Club" or fight the sun with a baseball cap printed with the insignia of the Iraqi Railroad. On mild autumn days, you can sport a long-sleeved T-shirt that describes the Green Zone as "the ultimate gated community."

In March, the Associated Press published a story about a cardboard shrine dedicated to Chuck Norris at a base in Anbar Province. The makeshift shrine reportedly describes the Hollywood action star as "the only WMD in Iraq" and says Norris "puts the 'laughter' in manslaughter." Countless troops have snapped photos of themselves posing by the shrine. There must be T-shirts out there somewhere, as well.

Today, I was standing in line to be searched to enter the Green Zone when the Filipino contractor ahead of me turned around. He was wearing a black T-shirt with the words, "You stay classy, Iraq!" next to the face of Ron Burgundy, the insufferable-yet-endearing anchorman played by Will Ferrell.

I had never seen that particular design, so when I got back to the hotel, I did a quick online search to see what else was new in the war souvenir industry. The Ron Burgundy T-shirt appeared to be popular.

One Web site sells a "You stay classy, Iraq" shirt for $18, but with Saddam Hussein's face instead of Will Ferrell's. Here's how the vendor touts it: "This t-shirt reminds us all that this brutal minority dictator may have had a few Shi'ite days, but his final message urged everyone to look on the Sunni side of life."

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