Ghassan Al-Imam: Saddam's chief propagandist

Saddam's propagandists in the Arab media became orphaned in 1990 when Iraqi cut off funding to its extensive network of publications in the Arab media. Those propagandists quickly transformed their loyalty to Saudi and Hariri media. They were that principled, yes. Ghassan Al-Imam was raised in the Saddamist propagandist apparatus. He started his career at Al-Muharrir and then moved to Saddam's own mouthpiece, Al-Watan Al-`Arabi magazine in Paris. Al-Imam quickly shifted his loyalty to the House of Saud, just like Lebanese journalist, Fu'ad Matar. Al-Imam here writes a nasty piece against Shafiq Al-Hut. Yes, I was pissed and this is why I wish to say a few words. Nothing is worse in life than living with burning jealosy. Jealousy is such a destructive force and it guarantees whoever is afflicted with it a life of misery and pettiness. It destroys focus and spoils whatever talents one may have. Al-Imam is terribly jealous of the creative Shafiq Al-Hut. Al-Hut is a very creative journalist who is responsible for more than one successful journalistic enterprise in the Arab world. Suffice it to say that he was the brain behind Al-Hawadith magazine in its heyday, and later was behind Al-Muharrir newspaper which was the second newspaper in Lebanon before the civil war (the invading Syrian troops closed down the paper and bombed its offices). Al-Hut's column in Al-Muharrir was the most widely read one, and Al-Imam admits that Al-Hut was also responsible for the political cartoons (the ideas) in the paper, and the witty headlines. Al-Muharrir was an Arab nationlist newspaper funded by Iraq at the time (and it emplyed this Al-Imam guy) but it was not sectarian, as Al-Imam suggests in his lousy peace of his. As for Al-Hut carrying guns: his account is rather fanciful and it should not be surprising that Al-Hut who survived some 12 Israeli assassination attempts on his life to be concerned about his safety. He also lies about the circumstances of Al-Hut's resignation from the PLO's Executive Committee. Al-Imam is bitter: it is a typical case of the talentless aginast the talented.