The donkey-cart Baghdad looter, whose image was lovingly reproduced by worldwide media networks two years ago at the start of the Iraqi war, has turned up in New Orleans this year with colleagues
Members of the Louisiana National Guard, fresh from Iraq, have stated that the scene in New Orleans bears an eerie resemblance to Baghdad in the wake of the Hussein regime's collapse. A few Guardsmen, formerly with the 3rd ID, believe they saw familiar faces among The Big Easy's looters, whom they witnessed filling a donkey cart with furniture stolen from Mayor Nagin's office. Some others were simply carrying chairs away on their backs--as did Muhammad Al Sayef, a self-described serial looter who turned up in New Orleans this week for the four-day media extravaganza and made himself available for interviews.
Al Sayef's chair-carrying antics around Baghdad quickly earned him world fame. At one time, he even drew criticism from the U.S. Secretary Of Defense for his on-camera exploits. A forthcoming and optimistic man, Al Sayef says that New Orleans has become a treasure trove for his collection of looted chairs, which he boasts could seat the entire audience of Air America network.
Al Sayef's new additions to the collection already include bus seats from the school buses flooded by Hurricane Katrina, bar stools from French Quarter, wheelchairs from an abandoned hospital, and - surprisingly enough - a pilot's seat from a rescue helicopter.
Al Sayef's father refuses to tell
US Army Intelligence forces the location of his son's chair
collection, which is regarded by some experts as Iraq's national treasure.
The aspiring looter's plans for the future include visiting Washington, DC on September 24th, for a
massive anti-war protest, rally, and festival in front of the White House, featuring Cindy Sheehan. He has already registered for this event online as a nonviolent participant, hoping that the anticipated "huddle and babelism" as Al Sayef himself puts it, might allow him to spirit away the chair of the President of the United States.
