Heard this one about Saddam?

Have you heard the one about Saddam Hussein? In a land where jokes about the president once were punishable by death, the collapse of Saddam...

Have you heard the one about Saddam Hussein? In a land where jokes about the president once were punishable by death, the collapse of Saddam’s regime is allowing Iraqis to make fun of him. Like everything else in Iraq, the jokes don’t work too well. There has been little to laugh about during the Saddam’s reign, so the Iraqis’ sense of humour is a little rusty.

Take this one as an example: Saddam and one of his flunkies go bird-hunting. The flunky shoots a bird on the first try, but the dictator misses two and gets angry. When Saddam misses the third, his flunky tells the boss he really did hit the bird, despite the evidence. ‘‘My God, it’s dead,’’ he tells Saddam, ‘‘but still flying!’’

While meeting with the Cabinet one day, goes another joke, Saddam issues a bizarre proclamation: ‘‘The elephant has wings to fly!’’ After the meeting, someone asks Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, one of Saddam’s top deputies, ‘‘Is it true that elephants have wings?’’ ‘‘Elephants do fly,’’ he replies, ‘‘just not very high!’’

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Some refer to Saddam’s collapse. One refers to West’s favourite humour target, Information Minister Mohammed Said al-Sahhaf. As a statue of Saddam is being pulled down behind him, a journalist asks, ‘‘Is Saddam falling?’’ ‘‘No,’’ al-Sahhaf insists, ‘‘that’s just someone who looks like Saddam.’’

In one, Saddam’s wife, Sajida, tells al-Douri to come to her house at midnight for a tryst and to show up wearing nothing. Al-Douri arrives in the buff, and finds Saddam at the door. Al-Douri, who never makes a decision without checking with the boss, explains: ‘‘I just wanted to know what I should wear tomorrow!’’

The war’s quick end provided some fresh material, a sign that Baghdad’s best humour lies ahead. With the war raging, Saddam calls to al-Douri, who runs into the room waving the V-for-victory sign with two fingers up. Saddam is elated: ‘‘We won! We won!’’ ‘‘No,’’ al-Douri replies, ‘‘I’m telling you, it’s just you and me left!’’ (LAT-WP)

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