[EXCLUSIVE] Interview with Saddam Hussein

November 5, 2006

Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death today by hanging, for crimes against humanity. The specific event was the torture and killing of hundreds of Shi'ites after a 1982 coup attempt against him.

Saddam had requested execution by firing squad, but his request was denied. I managed to catch up with him for a brief interview before he was led away. Saddam looked tired, with dark circles under his eyes, but his grey beard was neatly trimmed. He was dressed neatly in a starched white shirt and a loose-fitting black suit that made his broad shoulders sag a little. I would guess that he was about six feet in height.

IW: Mr. Hussein, you seem very calm for someone who has just received a death sentence. Were you surprised by the verdict?

SH: It was a foregone conclusion. What can you expect from an American puppet court! The Americans and their stooges intimidated and then killed lawyers on my defense team. The Americans refused to provide protection, and didn't even give the defense time to gather relevant documents. Even the two American lawyers -- Clark and Doebbler -- have pointed this out.

IW: But Mr. Hussein, surely the evidence against you is overwhelming? Do you deny that any of these events took place?

SH: Listen, Mister. This is a tough place. You hold on to power with whatever you have. If we hadn't put down the rebellion, they would have taken us out. After torture and killing, of course. What do you expect me to do?

IW: But surely you could have arrested the leaders, instead of killing and torturing an entire town? It seems you were one of the more bloodthirsty dictators of our time!

SH: As I said, this is a tough place. We never had the kind of democracy the Americans keep talking about. Especially not now.

IW: And of course, there are the chemical weapons attacks against the Kurds for which you are still waiting to be tried -- do you have anything to say about that?

SH: I am innocent until proven guilty by a fair trial. Without the involvement of the same people who murdered my sons Uday and Qusay.

IW: In retrospect, if you knew the fate you were dealt by history, after going from living in palaces to a spider hole and then a death sentence, would you have done anything different?

SH: I would have learned long ago not to trust the Americans. Especially that rat Rumsfeld! He came with all sorts of promises. You know, I'm told someone has put up a picture of the rat shaking hands with me on the Web?

IW: Is that so?

[I looked into this later and found a link which actually shows a picture of the two shaking hands. See:
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB82/
]



SH: I love your Web, even though it was started by American defense research. Because the truth can't be hidden. But they have denied me all access.

IW: Even if it were true, what does it prove?

SH: You are obviously not informed in America about the history of close, friendly relations with Iraq. We treated him with so much respect, the most lavish banquets -- he came twice, in '83, and also in '84. He was really worried about Iran and Syria, and was very interested in improving economic ties. Of course, they had been selling us military equipment for many years.
IW: Mr. Hussein, how are you spending your time in prison? Has it given you an opportunity to reflect on the course of your life?

SH: I did what I did, and am prepared to face death. Honorably, like a prisoner of war. But you know what I really would have liked to do if the war hadn't happened? Go on a tour?

IW: A tour -- what sort of tour, Mr. Hussein?

SH: A book tour, with interviews. As you know, my fourth novel Begone, Demons was translated into Japanese and published in Tokyo. There were plans for an English translation.

[At this point, several Iraqi police officials started to escort Mr. Hussein away. I managed to hurry after him, to catch his closing words.]

IW: Yes, Mr. Hussein?

SH: Zabiba and the King was already out there in English. You can see it on how do say that -- Amazon? I used to dream of royalties from it, but I haven't seen a dinar! I wanted to be on a TV show you have, with that fellow Rose. And also another one -- Stewart.

That was the last I saw of him. There was a strange after-shave odor (Aqua-Velva?) that lingered after he was gone.

Locked and Frozen as Wars Rage On

"In the nightmare of the dark
All the dogs of Europe bark,
And the living nations wait,
Each sequestered in its hate;

Intellectual disgrace
Stares from every human face,
And the seas of pity lie
Locked and frozen in each eye."

These lines, from Auden's poem "In Memory of W. B. Yeats", were written in 1939. Yet, as we look around at the world today, they seem to characterize the atmosphere of our time. We remain glib, as military might continues to terrorize innocent people. And we allow our dollars to be diverted towards war and barbarism.

Will no one stand up and speak the truth to those who carefully manipulate fear and hate -- to those who brutalize with violence? Or are we ourselves too afraid to cry out aloud, fearful of being pilloried, of losing friends, income, goodwill? Of being banished to some gulag?

It is of course important to confront evil everywhere. Fundamentalism, like patriotism and tribalism, is an evil ism that cloaks itself in all kinds of mythological trappings, appealing to those who are easily swayed by passion and romanticism. The jihadis need to be swept away, as well as the soldiers who hunt them, not with violence, but by compulsory education in the lessons of basic morality.