Yesterday morning I caught a clip on CNN about tattooing in Iraq. I had my camera and managed to get some shots.? Like this one at left with the guy tattooing with one plastic glove. It turns out? tattooing used to be the type of thing that would get you killed in Iraq. Saddam outlawed tattooing because it was seen as "too American". To Muslims it is "Haram" or forbidden, considered a desecration of Gods creation. These days though CNN reports that business is booming for tattooers in part because many people want to be tattooed so their loved ones can identify their bodies in case they are killed. Apparently there are countless unidentified bodies in Iraq from all the car bombings, terrorist attacks, etc. People are getting their names and phone numbers tattooed on them so their family can be called if they are found. About 100 bodies are found each day in Iraq nationwide. Most people have been taken from one neighborhood and killed in another.

At one time tattooing was a mark of pride in Iraq. Women would be tattooed on their faces with lines and dots on their chins and men would get tattooed on their hands and wrist. Saddam himself has three dots tattooed on his wrist as a symbol of his "humble origins"

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