9th
July
2007
Writing on the wall
posted by saurabh in Arts & Crafts, Iraq |This nice Monitor article about Iraqi graffiti contains the following excellent joke:
Ahmed Chalabi, the Pentagon’s favored exile, enjoys little popular support in Iraq. But pro-Chalabi slogans crop up in certain neighborhoods. “Chalabi is the engineer of democracy” is a common inscription near his headquarters in the upscale neighborhood of Mansour.But these graffiti sound bites can bite back. “Chalabi, symbol of sacrifice,” proclaims one Chalabi supporter - in Arabic, “Chalabi, Ramz al-Ikhlass.” Underneath it, some wit adds “Chalabi, Ramz al-Ikhtilass” - changing the meaning, with the addition of one syllable, to “Chalabi, symbol of embezzlement.”