Put Him in Bucca
Encyclopedia
Put Him in Bucca is an Iraq
i television program
airing on the network Al-Baghdadia TV
. It is hosted by Ali al-Khalidi. The show's name is a reference to Camp Bucca
, an American-built detention facility near Umm Qasr
that was in operation from 2003 until 2009.
The program, which has been compared to Punk'd
and Candid Camera
, features celebrities such as actress Asia Kamal, who are ostensibly invited to the headquarters of al-Baghdadia for an interview. While the celebrities are en-route, fake bombs are placed in their cars, without their knowledge. They are then stopped at an apparent military checkpoint, by soldiers in on the prank, who "discover" the fake bomb and accuse the celebrity of being a terrorist
or suicide bomber. The soldiers then threaten the celebrity with detention and execution unless he or she tells what he or she knows, while a hidden camera films the celebrity's reaction.
The show was produced with the permission of Baghdad Operations Command, the authority in charge of the capital's security, who was approached with the concept by al-Baghdadia. All celebrities who appeared on the show gave their consent for the footage of them to be broadcast after they became aware of the ruse.
Many complaints about the show were published in Iraqi newspapers. As part of a regularly recurring segment on his program Countdown with Keith Olbermann
, Keith Olbermann
named the producers of Put Him in Bucca as the "Worst People in the World" in one day's broadcast. Producer Najim al-Rubai defended the show, saying, "It's all genuine. That's comedy... We want viewers to laugh about al-Qaida." By laughing at the tactics of the terrorists, he believes, audiences lessen the visceral impact of those tactics.
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
i television program
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
airing on the network Al-Baghdadia TV
Al-Baghdadia TV
Al-Baghdadia TV is an independent Iraqi-owned Arabic-language satellite channel based in Cairo, Egypt. It is considered a Nationalistic channel of funding directly and only from the CEO. During the Iraqi insurgency, several prominent journalists with the station were murdered...
. It is hosted by Ali al-Khalidi. The show's name is a reference to Camp Bucca
Camp Bucca
Camp Bucca was a detention facility maintained by the United States military in the vicinity of Umm Qasr, Iraq. As of June 2011, a group of entrepreneurial Iraqis and Americans are re-building Camp Bucca as Basra Gateway, a logistics city and environmentally-friendly industrial hub to lead the new...
, an American-built detention facility near Umm Qasr
Umm Qasr
Umm Qasr , is a port city in southern Iraq. It stands on the canalised Khawr az-Zubayr, part of the Khawr Abd Allah estuary which leads to the Persian Gulf. It is separated from the border of Kuwait by a small inlet...
that was in operation from 2003 until 2009.
The program, which has been compared to Punk'd
Punk'd
Punk'd is an American hidden camera/practical joke reality television series that first aired on MTV in 2003 and was created by Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg, produced and hosted by Ashton Kutcher. It bore a resemblance to both the classic hidden camera show Candid Camera and to TV's Bloopers...
and Candid Camera
Candid Camera
Candid Camera is a hidden camera/practical joke reality television series created and produced by Allen Funt, which initially began on radio as Candid Microphone June 28, 1947...
, features celebrities such as actress Asia Kamal, who are ostensibly invited to the headquarters of al-Baghdadia for an interview. While the celebrities are en-route, fake bombs are placed in their cars, without their knowledge. They are then stopped at an apparent military checkpoint, by soldiers in on the prank, who "discover" the fake bomb and accuse the celebrity of being a terrorist
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
or suicide bomber. The soldiers then threaten the celebrity with detention and execution unless he or she tells what he or she knows, while a hidden camera films the celebrity's reaction.
The show was produced with the permission of Baghdad Operations Command, the authority in charge of the capital's security, who was approached with the concept by al-Baghdadia. All celebrities who appeared on the show gave their consent for the footage of them to be broadcast after they became aware of the ruse.
Many complaints about the show were published in Iraqi newspapers. As part of a regularly recurring segment on his program Countdown with Keith Olbermann
Countdown with Keith Olbermann
Countdown with Keith Olbermann is an hour-long weeknight news and political commentary program that airs on Current TV, where it began airing on June 20, 2011. The program was broadcast on MSNBC from March 31, 2003, to January 21, 2011. On MSNBC, the show presented five selected news stories of...
, Keith Olbermann
Keith Olbermann
Keith Theodore Olbermann is an American political commentator and writer. He has been the chief news officer of the Current TV network and the host of Current TV's weeknight political commentary program, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, since June 20, 2011...
named the producers of Put Him in Bucca as the "Worst People in the World" in one day's broadcast. Producer Najim al-Rubai defended the show, saying, "It's all genuine. That's comedy... We want viewers to laugh about al-Qaida." By laughing at the tactics of the terrorists, he believes, audiences lessen the visceral impact of those tactics.