By Cliff Peale
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Norwood's U.S. Playing Card Co. is now making a line of Iraqi Most Wanted playing cards on sale at www.greatusaflags.com.

The company wasn't part of the original sets, made by the U.S. Department of Defense. The cards featured pictures of Iraqi government and military officials, with Saddam Hussein as the Ace of Spades.

But the cards also featured a "Joker" image taken from U.S. Playing Card's Hoyle brand. So the company now will make more than 100,000 decks for the new line.

In the meantime, it's sent about 10 letters to those selling the original decks, warning them that the Joker symbol belongs to U.S. Playing Card, and asking them not to use it.

It also has asked the Pentagon to clarify that the original decks distributed to U.S. soldiers shouldn't be reprinted or sold, said George White, vice president of marketing.

"It's already been more popular than we expected," White said. "The Defense Department did what it wanted to do. It caught the public's imagination."