Saddam Hussien wrote poetry in his cell after his capture by American forces. He also denied responsibilty for the 9/11 attacks or even meeting Osama Bin Laden, describing him as a Zealot. I am only
really suprised about the poetry.
The CIA has recently released the
summaries of a series of interviews and 'casual conversations' conducted with the former Iraqi President. These are hosted at the
National Secuity Archive at George Washington University.
Referring to Hussein as 'High Value Detainee #1' these read like a Ballard short story as the dispassionate writer summarises what must have been hours of direct structured interviews and a few briefer encounters by FBI agent George L. Piro. In these Hussein dismisses the use of body doubles, and whilst having the airconditioning in cell fixed claimed to lived simply and that the numerous palaces in Iraq were not really 'his' and were in fact constructed to give his formerly agrarian nation a chance to develop it's architectural skills.
Hussein repeatedly claims that he did not have WMD's and frustrated the UN's inspection plans largely so as to maintain a psychological and tactical advantage over Iran. He is surprisingly candid about other high-ranked members of the Ba'ath Party and shares a joke with the American agent over his description of one of Hussein's collegues as a used car salesman. This is a remarkably direct insight into one of the major figures of our times, and contained also in these documents are his insights into how to rule a nation, deal with troublesome neighbours and manage vacillating allies. However a lot of these interviews concern the history of the Ba'ath party and the war with Iran, and much appears to remain undisclosed. It is unlikely that these 26 documents represent all that was discussed before his trial and subsequent execution.
