Iraq Would Like Saddam Hussein’s Bronze Butt Returned Immediately

In 2003 when Baghdad fell to U.S. and British Forces a now memorable scene was witnessed as a giant bronze statue of Saddam Hussein was torn from its footing and plummeted to the ground. After the statue was removed from its base a 2-foot section of butt check was taken by British forces soldier Nigel Ely with the help of US Marines.

Now the Iraq government is asking that Nigel Ely return the two foot section of butt cheek. According to Iraqi officials Ely “illegally removed Iraqi cultural property.”

In the meantime Ely says the portion of butt cheek he removed from the Saddam Hussein statue has already been turned into a new piece of art and he plans to sell the butt piece to raise money for veterans’ charities in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Apparently bringing back a piece of Saddam butt is a bigger deal then Ely may have originally thought, the chief of war art relic company has been questions by authorities for attempting to help Ely sell the piece.

According told the BBC:

“This is like having a chunk of the Berlin Wall—it’s part of history but it’s not cultural property.”

Here’s a video of the Saddam Hussein statue being pulled to the ground after his fall from leadership:

[iframe src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/hWxszYK6IPU” width=”480? height=”360?]

Do you believe that Nigel Ely has the responsibility to give the 2-foot portion of Saddam Hussein’s butt back to the Iraq government or should he be able to do what he wants with the fallen piece of national history?