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Playing cards featuring Saddam Hussein and his minions are being sold all over the Internet, even though the real cards have not even reached those for whom they are intended.
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The Defense Department made headlines a couple of weeks ago with the announcement that soldiers would soon receive playing cards with images of the former Iraqi leader, members of his family, and officials in his ruling Baath Party, among others, to help U.S. troops identify people wanted by the government.

Quick to recognize a good hand, companies have cropped up on the Internet with their own cards, claiming, for example, that their products are an "authentic replication," or that they have been supplying the real cards to the government.

Whatever the claim, those cards are not military issue, said Megan Fox, a Pentagon spokeswoman.

"Last time I heard, Central Command had not distributed the cards to soldiers in theater yet, and we are certainly not selling them," Fox said. "The cards have one purpose, and it is for military personnel."

The irony of the situation is that, because the cards aren't real, the military can't do anything to stop their sale, Fox said.

Images of Hussein, who is depicted on the ace of spades, and the other people on the cards are all over the Internet and there is nothing illegal about printing those pictures on playing cards.

"If people were actually selling government property, there would be action," Fox said.

Nick Lucca, president of GreatUSAFlags.com, said his company is selling Hussein cards for $6 a deck, but is not implying the cards are military issue.

"We are not holding these out as collector's items or the real cards, and I have not spoken to anyone at the Pentagon," Lucca said. "They are real playing cards and good poker cards."

Lucca said his Illinois-based company started selling the cards less than a week ago, with 50,000 decks on hand and expectations that all of them would be sold by the end of the month. Instead, the company sold 175,000 decks in four days, and the wave of online orders crashed its computer. Lucca said the company has shipped decks throughout the United States and to Australia, Britain, and Japan.

"We are having a good time, and we are making some money, but our prices are in line," Lucca said. "I think they are taken by the American public in the spirit intended."

Hussein isn't the only Iraqi to become an Internet icon in recent weeks. CafePress.com, a California-based company, has a line of products inspired by the Web site www.welovetheiraqiinformationminister.com.

The site pokes fun at former Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, who insisted that Iraq was destroying U.S. forces - even as Army and Marine tanks rumbled into Baghdad.

The site got so much traffic that its owner was forced to find a way to pay skyrocketing server fees to keep it open.

So, it hooked up with CafePress.com, and there are now various products emblazoned with memorable quotes from al-Saeed, such as the "God will roast their stomachs in hell!" kitchen apron.

One of the hottest items is the infidel flying disc - a Frisbee-like saucer.

"We didn't plan for this to be that big," said Maheesh Jain, spokesman for CafePress.com. "We see our site as a barometer of public opinion. More of the stuff being sold on our site is emotionally driven as opposed to profit-driven.

Copyright © April 18, 2003. The Record.