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| Iraq |
| Saddam: "My people are in bondage" |
| 2003-12-14 |
| Saddam Hussein was captured on Sunday without a fight. But since then, according to a U.S. intelligence official in Iraq, the fallen dictator has been defiant. âHeâs not been very cooperative,â said the official, who read the transcript of the initial interrogation report taken during the first questioning session. After his capture, Saddam was taken to a holding cell at the Baghdad Airport. He didnât answer any of the initial questions directly, the official said, and at times seemed less than fully coherent. The transcript was full of âSaddam rhetoric type stuff,â said the official who paraphrased Saddamâs answers to some of the questions. When asked âHow are you?â said the official, Saddam responded, âI am sad because my people are in bondage.â When offered a glass of water by his interrogators, Saddam replied, âIf I drink water I will have to go to the bathroom and how can I use the bathroom when my people are in bondage?" Perhaps "My People" is his pet name for a certain appendage. Such nuances can get lost in translation. The interrogators also asked Saddam if he knew about the location of Captain Scott Speicher, a U.S. pilot who went missing during the first Gulf War. âNo,â replied the former Iraqi president, âwe have never kept any prisoners. I have never known what happened.â Saddam was also asked whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. âNo, of course not,â he replied, according to the official, âthe U.S. dreamed them up itself to have a reason to go to war with us.â The interrogator continued along this line, said the official, asking: âif you had no weapons of mass destruction then why not let the U.N. inspectors into your facilities?â Saddamâs reply: âWe didnât want them to go into the presidential areas and intrude on our privacy.â The official is doubtful that the U.S. will get a significant amount of intelligence from Saddamâs interrogations. âI would be surprised if he gave any info,â he said. Other high-ranking regime members, he said, have by and large remained mum. âTariq Aziz [former deputy prime minister] hasnât really spoken,â he said, âand Abid Mahmoud [Saddamâs former personal secretary] hasnât really given any information.â The official said it may soon be clear how much command and control over the insurgency Saddam actually had while he was in hiding. âWe can now determine,â he said, âif he is the mastermind of everything or not.â The official elaborated: âHave we actually cut the head of the snake or is he just an idiot hiding in a hole?â "Or both?" |
| Posted by:Dar |
| #3 When covering this story tonight, MSNBC's Keith Olberman said, "This is the type of thinking you do when you live in a hole." Usually, I think Keith's an ass, but this was so true and too funny! Poor Saddam's completely flipped (as if he were sane before). |
| Posted by: Jennie Taliaferro 2003-12-15 4:46:42 AM |
| #2 Well, at least now we all know why Saddam wouldn't cooperate with the weapons inspectors, even to save his regime and his own skin. A man has his pride. |
| Posted by: Tresho 2003-12-14 11:40:43 PM |
| #1 My People" is his pet name ... lol! |
| Posted by: B 2003-12-14 9:25:32 PM |