"Chemical" Ali

Hawkeye · **Posted:** Mon Apr 07, 2003 10:43 pm

I keep reading about the man known as "Chemical Ali." Is this a nickname given to him by the Iraqi people or by the Americans?

Phillip Blanchard · **Posted:** Mon Apr 07, 2003 11:14 pm

I don't know.Q. Should it be Chemical Ali, "Chemical" Ali or "Chemical Ali."[ April 08, 2003: Message edited by: blanp ]

AGoofy1 · **Posted:** Mon Apr 07, 2003 11:18 pm

How about Ali Hassan al-Majid?

Hawkeye · **Posted:** Tue Apr 08, 2003 12:38 am

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by blanp:
[b]Q. Should it be Chemical Ali, "Chemical" Ali or "Chemical Ali."[ April 08, 2003: Message edited by: blanp ][/b]<hr></blockquote>I don't know. That's why I did it different ways. I think we should just call him by his name. I was just curious if this was something the Pentagon came up with or what.

Bakelite · **Posted:** Tue Apr 08, 2003 7:13 am

I'm waiting for the parody, "Da Chemical Ali G Show."

SusanV · **Posted:** Tue Apr 08, 2003 9:29 am

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Hawkeye:
I don't know. That's why I did it different ways. I think we should just call him by his name. I was just curious if this was something the Pentagon came up with or what.<hr></blockquote>I think that's probably the case, but I am going to search our archive tomorrow when I'm back in the office to see if we ever actually say so anywhere.For the record, we quote a nickname on first ref but drop the quotes on any subsequent ref. In the case of Chemical Ali, we use his full name, flick at the nickname--styled "Chemical Ali"--and then go back to using his surname.Aside to Dean B--funny![ April 08, 2003: Message edited by: SusanV ]

pzicari · **Posted:** Wed Apr 09, 2003 12:22 am

I've been reading some Kurdish Web pages. The moniker may have come from them after the gassing of Halabja.Arms-length reporting would probably call for using the guy's name, though the tradition of applying mob nicknames might apply to someone everyone seems to had decided is a bad guy.

SusanV · **Posted:** Thu Apr 10, 2003 11:21 am

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Pete Zicari:
I've been reading some Kurdish Web pages. The moniker may have come from them after the gassing of Halabja.Arms-length reporting would probably call for using the guy's name, though the tradition of applying mob nicknames might apply to someone everyone seems to had decided is a bad guy.<hr></blockquote>
Pete is correct. I found a May 1992 article in our archive that says al-Majid was "known to the Kurds as 'Chemical Ali' " because of the Halabja gassing.

gullyj · **Posted:** Sat Apr 12, 2003 2:08 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by SusanV:

Pete is correct. I found a May 1992 article in our archive that says al-Majid was "known to the Kurds as 'Chemical Ali' " because of the Halabja gassing.<hr></blockquote>Really? I'm assuming the nickname is a play on "chemical alley" the term used by environmentalists to describe some cesspool cluster of chemical plants in either the U.S. or Canada.
How do you say "chemical alley" in Kurdish and does it have the same meaning in that language?
It doesn't make sense to me, unless I'm missing something in my interpretation.

bcubbison · **Posted:** Sun Apr 13, 2003 4:47 pm

It seems about as straightforward grammatically as Iron Mike, Diamond Jim or Dollar Bill. Reverse the order and you might get Charlie Hustle or Senator Pothole. There's this from a 1991 AP story:"What is even worse, Saddam's associates even boast of their crimes to terrorize the people even more," said Abu Ali, a rebel official.He claimed that Iraqi Interior Minister Ali Hassan al-Majid had boasted of the nickname Kurds gave him after he oversaw the use of chemical weapons against them in 1988.Abu Ali said the minister told a gathering of Kurds in Kirkuk last month: "You know me. I am Ali Chimyawi" - "Chemical Ali." Brian Cubbison,
Syracuse, NY[ April 13, 2003: Message edited by: Brian Cubbison ]

gullyj · **Posted:** Tue Apr 15, 2003 11:37 pm

I hear those cheesy Kurds have come up with a nickname for the commander of the allied forces:
"All Beef" Franks.

knaiad · **Posted:** Fri Apr 18, 2003 4:38 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Dean Betz:
I'm waiting for the parody, "Da Chemical Ali G Show."<hr></blockquote>Yuck yuck yuck

Jackie · **Posted:** Mon May 05, 2003 11:17 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Hawkeye:
I keep reading about the man known as "Chemical Ali." Is this a nickname given to him by the Iraqi people or by the Americans?<hr></blockquote>I've been wondering the same thing about a lot of these supposed nicknames. I saw a Washington Post story tonight that referred to the surrender of an Iraqi scientist "that the media have dubbed 'Mrs. Anthrax'..." (that's the sentence fragment as best as I can recall it). Uh-huh. Anyway, my space is too tight tomorrow to waste time explaining the ins and outs of "Mrs. Anthrax" to our readers, so I just used her name.By the way, as we were wondering aloud about the orgins of "Mrs. Anthrax," the TCE member best known here as JonScribe asked something along the lines of: "Mrs. Anthrax? Who do we think these people are, X-Men?"

gullyj · **Posted:** Wed May 07, 2003 10:32 am

Chemcial Ali, Comical Ali and now Mrs. Anthrax.
Can a Fox Network sitcom be far behind?
I'll bet the Chemical Ali nickname has its origins with a headline writer at some Brit rag where they can't resist tagging people with some stupid handle.
The North American press should know better.

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