'Satan's Grotto' was the caption to the picture of Saddam Hussein's hidey-hole on the front page of the Sun the day after the ex-dictator was captured by American forces. Numerous cartoonists around the world played variations on the theme of George Bush confusing Saddam with Santa, though none implied the President was disappointed when the captive's beard was shaved off and his identity confirmed. It must certainly have seemed to some people as if Christmas had come early. Too early, perhaps. Madeleine Albright may have had this in mind when she said in the Fox News green room last month: 'Do you suppose that the Bush Administration has Osama bin Laden hidden away somewhere and will bring him out before the election?' She claims that she was joking; Fox journalist Mort Kondracke, however, thinks she can't have been because 'she was not smiling': I hope nobody gave him a Jack Benny video for Christmas.

LRB 8 January 2004 | PDF Download