Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf

Al-Sahhaf is known for his daily press briefings in Baghdad during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. His colorful appearances caused him to be nicknamed "Baghdad Bob"[4] (in the style of previous propagandists with geographical aliases—some of them alliterative, such as "Hanoi Hannah" and "Seoul City Sue") by commentators in the United States. He was nicknamed "Comical Ali" by commentators in the United Kingdom; commentators in Italy similarly nicknamed him "Alì il Comico". These nicknames were given because he made statements about the conflict that were wildly at odds with reality, and western media treated him as a parody during the initial stages of the Iraq War.[5]

His pronouncements included claims that American soldiers were committing suicide "by the hundreds" outside the city, and denial that there were any American tanks in Baghdad, when in fact they were only several hundred meters away from the press conference where he was speaking and the combat sounds of nearing American troops could already be heard in the background.[6] On another occasion, he spoke of the disastrous outcomes of previous foreign attempts to invade Iraq, citing an unspecified Western history book and inviting the journalists present to come to his home to read it. His last public appearance as Information Minister was on 8 April 2003, when he said that the Americans "are going to surrender or be burned in their tanks. They will surrender; it is they who will surrender".[7] When asked where he had gotten his information, he replied, "authentic sources—many authentic sources".[8] He pointed out that he "was a professional, doing his job".[8]

He frequently used the word ‘ulūj (علوج), an obscure and particularly insulting term for infidels, to describe the American forces in Iraq. This caused some debate in the Arabic-language media about the exact meaning of the word, with most concluding it meant "bloodsucking insect". In an August 2003 interview on Abu Dhabi TV, al-Sahhaf said it was an archaic term attributed to Umar ibn Al-Khattāb.[9]

US intelligence analysts later concluded that Al-Sahhaf confidently made false statements because he genuinely believed in what he was saying. As the American forces approached Baghdad, the Iraqi army falsely reported that they had successfully counterattacked US forces, destroying numerous tanks and killing hundreds of American troops. Army Col. Steve Boltz, the deputy chief of intelligence for V Corps, expressed that they held the belief that Al-Sahhaf sincerely held the information he reported to be true. Boltz theorized that because Saddam's regime was known for frequently punishing those who delivered bad news, military officers would fabricate reports about the battlefield situation. This systemic self-deception within the Iraqi hierarchy led to a surprising lack of awareness when the Americans entered the capital, with some captured Iraqi officers later bewilderingly admitting that they had no idea that the US forces had been so close.[10]

Al-Sahhaf gained something of a cult following in the West, appearing on T-shirts, cartoons, and in Internet phenomena.[11] In the UK, a DVD documentary was sold about his exploits and televised interviews, called Comical Ali.