Success Quote by Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf

Control is the currency al-Sahaf is trying to print in real time. As Saddam Hussein's information minister during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, he wasn't simply offering updates; he was staging a psychological counteroffensive. "We are in control" functions less as a claim than as a spell: say it loudly enough and it might become true, or at least muddy the public's sense of what's true long enough to matter.

The line divides the world into two emotional registers: calm authority ("we") versus panicked irrationality ("they"). Calling the other side "in a state of hysteria" feminizes and delegitimizes the enemy in one stroke, a classic propaganda move that substitutes temperament for evidence. Then he pivots to "civilians" and "feelings of the people", casting the opposing force not as tactically superior but morally diseased - the kind of enemy that wins only by terror and manipulation. It's meant to pre-empt the obvious counterargument: if Baghdad is under fire, who's actually in control? The answer he offers is narrative control: the real battle is for perception.

The profanity - "those bastards" - is doing heavy lifting. It signals authenticity, anger, and proximity to the violence, as if emotional heat can stand in for credible information. It's also a pressure release for an audience watching their reality fracture: if the spokesperson is furious, then someone is still fighting, still unbowed.

Today the quote survives as meme and punchline because the gap between rhetoric and observable events was so stark. But its intent was deadly serious: keep morale from collapsing, keep legitimacy intact, keep uncertainty working for you.