2 of Amerikaz most wanted
JF-Expert Member
- Jan 13, 2023
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Ignoring warnings from the government and his family.
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Of all the legendary wins in Muhammad Ali’s life, few are as little known as the one he pulled off exactly 25 years ago today: Defying the odds and the American government, Ali traveled to Iraq, where 15 Americans were being held hostage by Saddam Hussein in the run-up to the Gulf War.
As with much in Ali’s life, his mission was misconstrued and criticized. President George H.W. Bush did not approve. “I basically believe these people are playing into the propaganda game that Iraq is holding here,” said Joseph Wilson, then the top American diplomat in Baghdad. “These people traveling to Iraq are making a serious mistake.”
Even The New York Times criticized Ali, suggesting that he was just another egomaniacal celebrity out of his depth.
“Surely the strangest hostage-release campaign of recent days has been the ‘goodwill’ tour of Muhammad Ali, the former heavyweight boxing champion . . . he has attended meeting after meeting in Baghdad despite his frequent inability to speak clearly.”
At that point, Ali was 48 years old and had been suffering from Parkinson’s disease for six years.
Decades before, Ali transcended boxing to become one of the most polarizing figures in America. Shortly after demolishing champ Sonny Liston in an upset on Feb. 25, 1964, he changed his name from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali and joined the Nation of Islam. He was 22 years old, the world heavyweight champion.
The famous sportswriter Myron Cope wrote an editorial shortly after Ali’s conversion that reflects the hysteria this caused. Cope’s refusal to call Ali by his new name was not unusual.
“For a time, when he was confining himself to bad poetry, Cassius was a loudmouth but a likeable character who seemed to be harmless in or out of the ring,” Cope wrote. “Then he won the championship and became, in his own estimation, ‘The Greatest.’ After the fight, he acknowledged that he was a Black Muslim, converted by the arch-extremist Malcolm X, the man who crowed that President Kennedy’s assassination was ‘a case of the chickens coming home to roost’ . . . Clay has been fighting a socio-religious battle with the Christian world.”
Ali refused to be cowed. “I’m the king of the world!” he said. “I’m pretty! I’m a bad man! I shook up the world!”
Source farcinating
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Of all the legendary wins in Muhammad Ali’s life, few are as little known as the one he pulled off exactly 25 years ago today: Defying the odds and the American government, Ali traveled to Iraq, where 15 Americans were being held hostage by Saddam Hussein in the run-up to the Gulf War.
As with much in Ali’s life, his mission was misconstrued and criticized. President George H.W. Bush did not approve. “I basically believe these people are playing into the propaganda game that Iraq is holding here,” said Joseph Wilson, then the top American diplomat in Baghdad. “These people traveling to Iraq are making a serious mistake.”
Even The New York Times criticized Ali, suggesting that he was just another egomaniacal celebrity out of his depth.
“Surely the strangest hostage-release campaign of recent days has been the ‘goodwill’ tour of Muhammad Ali, the former heavyweight boxing champion . . . he has attended meeting after meeting in Baghdad despite his frequent inability to speak clearly.”
At that point, Ali was 48 years old and had been suffering from Parkinson’s disease for six years.
Decades before, Ali transcended boxing to become one of the most polarizing figures in America. Shortly after demolishing champ Sonny Liston in an upset on Feb. 25, 1964, he changed his name from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali and joined the Nation of Islam. He was 22 years old, the world heavyweight champion.
The famous sportswriter Myron Cope wrote an editorial shortly after Ali’s conversion that reflects the hysteria this caused. Cope’s refusal to call Ali by his new name was not unusual.
“For a time, when he was confining himself to bad poetry, Cassius was a loudmouth but a likeable character who seemed to be harmless in or out of the ring,” Cope wrote. “Then he won the championship and became, in his own estimation, ‘The Greatest.’ After the fight, he acknowledged that he was a Black Muslim, converted by the arch-extremist Malcolm X, the man who crowed that President Kennedy’s assassination was ‘a case of the chickens coming home to roost’ . . . Clay has been fighting a socio-religious battle with the Christian world.”
Ali refused to be cowed. “I’m the king of the world!” he said. “I’m pretty! I’m a bad man! I shook up the world!”
Source farcinating
