The Legend Of Saddam

Khalid Khawaldi calls himself "the strategist." Sincere and dignified, he waves a hand to indicate the deployments of air force, infantry, cavalry. Here are the Iraqi divisions, there the Americans. "Inshallah, victory to Saddam," he proclaims. Then the air force giggles--and the battle of the Zahrat al-Madayen school playground begins. Arms raised as wings, the American planes zoom into action. The fighting is tough, its course chaotic, the casualties high, but the outcome is clear from the start. Khalid, 11, determines the winner, and in this Jordanian schoolyard the Iraqis never lose. "If it was for real," says Loai Muhammad, a 12-year-old picked for the American side, "we'd all have been with Iraq."

More than two weeks into the war, the legend of Saddam Hussein isgrowing in the Arab world. The symbolism of his Scud missile strikes against Israel and the bravado of his attack on Khafji touch notes of grudging respect even among his enemies. Leaders allied with Washington argue that he has split Arab ranks and brought catastrophe on the region. Makram Mohamed Ahmad, editor of Cairo's weekly al-Mussawar magazine, says the Egyptians know Saddam as "a very bad man, a ruthless dictator, bringing ruin to the Islamic people." But Ahmad also notes that many admire Saddam because he "stood his ground." In a part of the world starved for heroes, where men of rhetoric have been common and men of action rare, the power of Saddam's myth may be his most important legacy, whether or not he survives the war.

Saddam's