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Get your Easter, Secretaries Day and Mother's Day gifts at the Galleria! Add your comments on this week's "What is the Deal?" column at Uncle Hiram's Bulletin Board. April 6, 2003 What is the deal with Iraqi Trash Talk? By Jan A. Larson The term "trash talk" refers to the practice of verbally taunting an opponent, and is most often associated with respect to athletic competition. It may, and often does, occur before games/matches and then may become what is commonly referred to as "bulletin board material." In this case, disparaging remarks by an upcoming opponent may be posted on the bulletin board to serve as inspiration for the offended team. Trash talk also occurs during the contest. Michael Jordan has been said to be one of the most vocal and aggressive trash talkers ever to play professional basketball. The great fighter, Muhammad Ali, crafted his entire career around trash talk, predicting the round in which he would knock out his adversary. Some athletes use trash talk for self-motivation. Others try to get "inside the head" of the opponent hoping to gain an advantage. While trash talking has a long and colorful history in athletics, I believe the Iraqi regime has taken trash talking to another level entirely. While coalition troops are rampaging through Iraq toward Baghdad, the talk coming from the Iraqi government would lead one to think that an Iraqi victory in the war was imminent. Of course this kind of trash talk is commonly referred to as propaganda and is designed to convince the Iraqi people that Saddam Hussein's regime will remain intact and to convince his military not to give up the effort. Propaganda aside, if the war wasn't so deadly serious, some of the statements coming out of Iraq are so ludicrous as to be comical. As coalition forces were wiping out Iraqi Republican Guard divisions and precision bombs were raining down on military installations in Baghdad, the Iraqi leadership has offered up such pearls of wisdom as: * Information minister, Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf stated the war's impact was "trivial" and that the coalition leaders were lying, "What they say about a breakthrough is completely an illusion." * Saeed al-Sahaf, commenting on reports that the coalition forces had destroyed the Baghdad division of the Republican Guard, said that the division is in excellent shape and will teach U. S. forces "lessons in the art of fighting." * An officer in the Iraqi's Baghdad Division, which was routed by coalition forces, said "God willing, we will teach the enemy lessons on the battlefield that it will not forget." * Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan commented, "Our strategy is based on a long war, and I believe we've so far succeeded in defeating the enemy's strategy." * A statement attributed to Saddam Hussein himself indicated that, "Victory is at hand, God willing, although we have only utilized a third or less of our army while the criminals have used everything they brought in." As former Dallas Cowboys' coach Jimmy Johnson once said, "If you're gonna talk the talk, then you've gotta walk the walk." Saddam Hussein and his regime are talking, but in the end, none of them will be walking. -- Send feedback to the author. The "What is the Deal?" column will appears weekly on the Pie of Knowledge website. Guest submissions are welcome and encouraged. To submit an article to "What is the Deal?" click here. To subscribe to the "What is the Deal?" mailing list and receive early notification when a new column is available, click here. The Pie of Knowledge will never, ever divulge email addresses to any third party for any reason unless so ordered by a court of law. Contributions to the Pie of Knowledge are greatly appreciated. 
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