Madeleine Albright, the first woman to serve as Secretary of State in the United States, was described by many Iraqis during Saddam's regime as a "snake," a label they believed to be accurate.
Albright was appointed by former U.S. President Bill Clinton on December 5, 1996, as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations before becoming Secretary of State, thereby making history as the first woman to hold this position. However, "Madeleine" was not her real name; it was a name she adopted during her childhood, while her official name was "Marie Jana Korbelova." She was born into a Jewish family in Prague in 1937. After Nazi Germany occupied Czechoslovakia in 1939, her family moved to Britain. Following World War II, they returned to their homeland but emigrated to the United States in 1949, after communists took power a year earlier.
As a "refugee" from Czechoslovakia who found a new home in the United States, Albright had a significant interest in issues affecting refugees, always emphasizing the importance of giving people the chance to become part of a new country. However, her political stances often sparked controversy. Albright became known for her firm and occasionally aggressive positions, leading many to classify her as a "hawk." Some immigrants might feel pressured to demonstrate that they are "more American than Americans themselves."
While serving as her country’s permanent representative to the UN and later as Secretary of State, Albright was familiar with controversial stances that crossed conventional boundaries, often resulting in "shocking" statements. For instance, many consider her personally responsible for the destructive and violent NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999, which became infamously known as "Albright's War."
Another notable example of her contentious positions involves her strong statements against Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq. Albright, who passed away in 2022 after a long battle with cancer, had a penchant for what could be termed "pin diplomacy," using brooches as a means to convey messages to foreign interlocutors, each carrying special meanings.
Albright credited her use of "pin language" to Saddam Hussein, indicating that her interest in this form of communication began with Iraq. After the Gulf War, as the U.S. ambassador to the UN, she harshly criticized Saddam Hussein, leading to a local poem describing her as a "snake like no other." During a press conference concerning the situation in Iraq, Albright recounted wearing a "snake" brooch, which she used as a silent form of communication in her discussions.
On May 12, 1996, during an interview on CBS's "60 Minutes," she faced a question regarding the death of half a million Iraqi children due to sanctions, a figure larger than the number of children killed in Hiroshima. Without hesitation, Albright responded, "We think the price is worth it."
The repercussions of her actions in the war against Serbia continued to provoke misunderstandings, culminating in an "embarrassing" incident in 2012. At a book signing event for "Prague Winter" in Prague, activists approached her asking for her signature on photos of those killed during the 1999 war. In response, the former Secretary of State expelled them, shouting, "You disgusting Serbs, get out!"
