Saddam's Prison Life Described

[Winnow]

I thought this article was interesting. Saddam is a Cheetohs man. Sounds like he's being harshly treated as he had to eat Doritos one day when the supply of Cheetohs ran out.

Saddam is friendly, talkative, bran-eating 'clean freak,' guards say

Richard Pyle
Associated Press
Jun. 20, 2005 07:47 AM

NEW YORK - Thrust unexpectedly into the role of prison guards for Saddam Hussein, a group of young American soldiers found the deposed Iraqi leader to be a friendly, talkative "clean freak" who loved Raisin Bran for breakfast, did his own laundry and insisted he was still president of Iraq, says a report published on Monday.

GQ magazine's July issue says Saddam greatly admired President Reagan and thought President Clinton was "OK," but had harsh words for both President Bushes, each of whom went to war against him.

"The Bush father, son, no good," one of the soldiers, Cpl. Jonathan "Paco" Reese, 22, of Millville, Pa., quotes Saddam as saying. But his fellow GI, Specialist Sean O'Shea, then 19, says Saddam later softened that view.

"Towards the end he was saying that he doesn't hold any hard feelings and he just wanted to talk to Bush, to make friends with him," O'Shea, of Minooka, Pa., told the magazine.

A third soldier, Spc. Jesse Dawson, quoted Saddam as saying of Bush, " 'He knows I have nothing, no mass weapons. He knows he'll never find them.' "

The three GIs were among members of C Company, 2nd Battalion, 103rd Armor Regiment, a Pennsylvania National Guard unit from the Scranton area that was activated for duty in Iraq in late 2003. Instead of combat, they were chosen by the FBI to serve as guards at a U.S. military compound where Saddam was an "HVD," or high value detainee.

The nine-month assignment was so secret that they could not tell their families, according to the article by GQ correspondent Lisa DePaulo. The article names five of the soldiers who agreed to discuss the experience, with the military's permission.

They were required to sign statements prohibiting them from revealing the location, dates, garrison strength and certain other details of Saddam's incarceration. But they were free to describe their interactions with the prisoner, according to the article.

Pentagon officials had no immediate comment because they had not seen the article, spokeswoman Lynnette Ebberts said Monday.

The soldiers' descriptions of Saddam's life in prison match the recent photos of him that apparently were smuggled out of prison - showing the former dictator in his underwear and a long robe. They describe a man who once lived in palaces and now occupies a cell where he has no personal privacy.

Once, when Saddam fell down during his twice-a-week shower, the article says, "panic ensued. No one wanted him to be hurt while being guarded by Americans." One GI had to help Saddam back to his cell, another carried his underwear, it adds.

Saddam learned the names of the GIs guarding him, was interested in the details of their lives, which they were not supposed to discuss, and sometimes offered fatherly advice. They conversed in English.

O'Shea said when he told him he was not married, Saddam "started telling me what to do." "He was like, 'you gotta find a good woman. Not too smart, not too dumb. Not too old, not too young. One that can cook and clean.' "

Then he smiled, made what O'Shea interpreted as a "spanking" gesture, laughed and went back to washing his clothes in the sink.

The soldiers say Saddam was preoccupied with cleanliness, washing up after shaking hands and using diaper wipes to clean his meal trays, his utensils and the table before eating. "He had germophobia or whatever you call it" said Dawson, 25, of Berwick, Pa.

The article quotes the GIs on Saddam's eating preferences - Raisin Bran Crunch was his breakfast favorite. "No Froot Loops," he told O'Shea. He ate fish and chicken but refused beef at dinner.

For a time his favorite food was Cheetos, and when those ran out, Saddam would "get grumpy," the story says. One day the guards substituted Doritos corn chips, and Saddam forgot about Cheetos. "He'd eat a family size bag of Doritos in 10 minutes," Dawson says.

Saddam prayed five times a day in his cell and kept a Quran that he claimed to have found in some rubble near the underground hideout. "He proudly showed (it) to the boys because it was burned around the edges and had a bullet hole in it," the story says.

According to the author, Saddam told his guards that when the Americans invaded Iraq in March 2003, he "tried to flee in a taxicab as the tanks were rolling in," and the U.S. planes attacked the palace to which he intended to escape rather than the one he was in, injuring some of his bodyguards.

"But then he started laughing," recalls Reese. "He goes, 'America, they dumb. They bomb wrong palace.' "

Saddam told the guards his capture in an underground hideout on Dec. 18, 2003, resulted from a betrayal by the only man who knew where he was, and had been paid to keep the secret.

"He was really mad about that," says Dawson. "He compared himself to Jesus, how Judas told on Jesus. He was like, 'that's how it was for me." If his Judas never said anything, nobody ever would have found him, he said."

U.S. officials said at the time that Saddam's capture resulted from intelligence from several sources rather than a single informant.

The article says that if Saddam knew the statue of himself in Baghdad's Firdos Square was toppled on April 9, 2003, he never mentioned it to the GI guards. He insisted that everything he did, including the 1990 invasion of Kuwait, was for the good of his people, and invited his guards to return to Iraq and stay at his palace after he was restored to power.

"He'd always tell us he was still the president. That's what he thinks, One hundred percent," says Dawson.

[Seebs]

He looks a little like Avery Schrieber ..

CRRRUUNNNNNCHHHH!!


Jesus Winnow .. post the pics of those two side by side. Its fucking scary.

[Voronwë]

i thought this was pretty wild!

[Krimson Klaw]

What happens if he is found innocent of all charges? Is he back as president?

[Seebs]

I think 120,000 people rise from the dead since it never happened.

[Fash]

if the democrats get their way, he may indeed regain the position.

[Pherr the Dorf]

if the democrats get their way, he may indeed regain the position.

Name One single democrat stating that or keep your kneejerk fundie reactionism to yourself... you truely are a fucking twit

[Fash]

they want us to pull out of iraq, shithead..

[Nick]

Yes he is a shithead because he pointed out how ridiculous your post was.

^^

[Jice Virago]

This will be interesting in how it plays out, from a standpoint of international law. Strictly speaking, we went in and deposed a sovreign government of a nation that was not in direct hostility with us. The one crime they have credible evidence of him commiting, gassing the kurds, we were actually accessories to in that we supplied him with the materials. The fact that this man is a cruel ruler is not in dispute (though it could be argued that Iraq is probably the most westernized of all the middle eastern states), but the plain facts are that Iraq has never threatened the US, directly or indirectly, and that what WMDs they ever had came from the US as an indirect means of striking at Iran. There is actually a fairly significant relationship between Sadam and the CIA during his rise to power in Iraq (one that obviously deteriorated since then), so its very likely any public disclosure of his trial will not be allowed, similar to when Noriega was taken out of power and there were alligations that he help the CIA raise money through cocaine trafficking.

I think that unless clear proof can be demonstrated that he was solely responsible for gassing the Kurds (which is apparently not as concrete as once stated), then it is a credible statement that he is the legitimate ruler of Iraq. It is certainly as credible a claim as that of the Shaw of Iran, whom we supported when he was ousted from power. This is all just mental masterbation of course, since we have proven quite succinctly that we don't care about international law or opinion. The architects of this little orwellian masterpiece won't let anything resembling a fair trial happen, because the truth will make us look as bad (or worse) than Sadam. Either way, I feel we illegally invaded a sovreign nation (probably under false pretenses) and I fear the implications of this if we (both the US citizenship and the world at large) allow this to go unchecked, without asking questions like "Why invade Iraq when XXX african country has just as brutal of a regime? Why did we invade them twice? Why did we invade them when they were complying with our demands?" which the Bush Corp has taken great measures to avoid facing.

[Sargeras]

He still thinks he's president?

ROFL!

[Kelgar]

Sounds like he was buddy buddy with the right wing's favorite hero, Ronnie aka Mr. I Can't Recall.

[Thess]

they want us to pull out of iraq, shithead..

It's more than just democrats who want an exit strategy in Iraq.

[nobody]

hi thess

[Aslanna]

they want us to pull out of iraq, shithead..

How does that equate to Saddam regaining his position?

[Winnow]

Exit strategies are for mornings after beer goggle nights.

[Fash]

they want us to pull out of iraq, shithead..

How does that equate to Saddam regaining his position?

i said nothing more than it may... if we leave, we have little or no control over what happens and it's well within the realm of possibility... that's all.

[Midnyte_Ragebringer]

Aye, but pointing out logical things is not allowed here on the VV. It angers the local folk.

[Aslanna]

Aye, but pointing out logical things is not allowed here on the VV. It angers the local folk.

How is "if the democrats get their way, he may indeed regain the position." logical in any way? Please educate me.

[Nick]

Sorry Fash and Midnyte you just aren't making any sense now. Who's being negative here exactly?