# Saddams abound **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 27, 2002, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddams-abound/129882 "2002-09-27T15:31:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2002, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddams-abound/129882/1 "2002-09-27T15:31:14Z")
The German [ZDF television network](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=573&ncid=573&e=6&u=/nm/20020927/od_nm/saddam_dc) has concluded that Saddam Hussein has three surgically refined doubles who make his public appearance for him, and that he hasn’t really been seen since 1998. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2002, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddams-abound/129882/2 "2002-09-27T18:33:04Z")
> [@](#): > > A German television network said on Thursday it had made a scientific study of 450 photographs of Saddam Hussein ( news - web sites) in Iraq and concluded there are at least three doubles posing as the Iraqi president. > > \< snip \> > > “They have apparently undergone surgery to appear to look like the statesman,” ZDF said. “The doubles have mastered Saddam’s gestures and perfectly mimic Saddam, with only tiny details separating them from the real Saddam Hussein.” Am I the only one who senses a TV series in the offing? “My Three Saddams”? “Those wild and wacky Iraqis are at it again…” This was actually an episode of Bewitched, wasn’t it? Three Samanthas? Tarik Aziz is a dead ringer for Larry Tate, ain’t he? Except for the glasses. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle\_east/2232621.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2232621.stm) [![](https://www.harpiesbizarre.com/tatesshocked.jpg) ](https://www.harpiesbizarre.com/tatesshocked.jpg) Separated at birth? ---
**Author:** ![Kallessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7993a0/32.png) [@Kallessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kallessa)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddams-abound/129882/3 "2002-09-29T02:32:13Z")
**Saddams Abound** Band Name!! Band Name!!! Band Name!!! Appearing on TV channels near you, with the hip new opening act: Mass Weapons of Destruction ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddams-abound/129882/4 "2002-09-29T02:53:07Z")
I’m contemplating the notion that you really don’t even have to actually have a body double or triple… all you really have to do is convince your enemies that one (or three) exists and the effect is just as profound. ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddams-abound/129882/5 "2002-09-29T03:36:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Alfred Lord Tennyson \* > \*\* > Saddam to right of them, > Saddam to left of them, > Saddam in front of them > Volley’d and thunder’d; > \*\* ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddams-abound/129882/6 "2002-09-29T03:59:28Z")
It did say they were using facial recogition technology and that he’s not been recognized via that method since '98. Ummm… does this stuff take ageing into account? Some mornings, I’d not believe it was me in the mirror if I didn’t know better. ---
**Author:** ![butter\_pie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aca169/32.png) [@butter\_pie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butter_pie)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddams-abound/129882/7 "2002-09-29T15:04:40Z")
I heard about this on the radio (NPR) Friday. They said they had a video recently where he matched up with the older videos, so I don’t think aging has much to do with it. Apparently the “real” Saddam recently made an appearance on video. One of the things they mentioned was that the position of the ears was different in the doubles, because it’s extremely difficult/impossible to alter that with plastic surgery. They could be wrong, but it doesn’t seem unreasonable to me that a man that practically everyone would like to see dead would be using decoys.