Say theword mujahid- or holy warrior - these days and many inhabitants of Baghdad are likely to snigger.
An appellation once worn as a badge of pride by anti-American insurgents has now become street slang for homosexuals, after men claiming to be captured Islamist guerrillas confessed that they were holding gay orgies in the popular Iraqi TV programme Terror in the Hands of Justice....
For Iraqis opposed to the predominantly Sunni Islamist insurgency, Terror in the Hands of Justice, which airs twice daily on Iraqi public television, has broken the mystique of a force that used to strike terror into the hearts of anyone working with the Americans or the new government.
Read the whole thing here.
In an earlier post I related a description by Omar of Iraq the Model of the most popular TV program in Iraq. It consists of broadcast interrogations of captured "insurgents". Not only does it provide fascinating information on the people who are fighting the "insurgency" but also it goes a long way toward demystifying the romantic image of the "holy warriors."
From this article, it would seem that the show is doing a lot more than that. No terrorist organization can stand up to widespread sniggering.
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