Culture | Prophets of doomscrolling
A joyless theocracy produces wittier videos than the Trump administration
|WASHINGTON, DC|4 min read
In previous decades, propaganda for murderous Middle Eastern regimes tended to be unpersuasive. As American forces rolled into the Iraqi capital in 2003, Saddam Hussein’s information minister, Muhammad Saeed al-Sahaf, stood on a roof and claimed that “Baghdad is safe…the infidels are committing suicide by the hundreds on the gates.” He added that God was “grilling their stomachs in hell”. Behind him, television audiences could see Iraqi soldiers fleeing for their lives.
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Prophets of doomscrolling”
From the April 25th 2026 edition
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