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Saddam's FBI Interviews Released

Says WMD fiction was aimed at Iran; he wanted pact with US

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 2, 2009 12:22 PM CDT
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(Newser) – Transcripts of Saddam Hussein's two dozen interviews with the FBI before his execution were released yesterday, after details were published last week by the New York Daily News, which obtained them through the Freedom of Information Act. Some details are still redacted, but the FBI says no "enhanced" techniques were used in interrogations. In the interviews, Saddam said he pretended to have WMDs because he was worried about looking weak to the “fanatic” leaders of Iran, and admits that refusing UN verification of the destruction of his WMDs was a mistake.

He said he had been prepared to forge a security pact with the US, if necessary, to protect his country from Iranian threats, called Osama bin Laden “a zealot” and insisted he’d never had any dealings with al-Qaeda. “Religion and government should not mix,” he said. He also dismissed intelligence reports that he used body doubles to avoid assassinations, saying, “This is movie magic, not reality.”

A statue of Saddam Hussein is pulled down by US soldiers and Iraqi civilians in Firdaus Square, in downtown Bagdhad in this April 9, 2003 photo.
A statue of Saddam Hussein is pulled down by US soldiers and Iraqi civilians in Firdaus Square, in downtown Bagdhad in this April 9, 2003 photo.   (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)
Ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein reacts in court in this 2006 file photo in Baghdad, Iraq.
Ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein reacts in court in this 2006 file photo in Baghdad, Iraq.   (AP Photo / Nikola Solic, pool, FILE)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 16 comments
Newser001
Jul 3, 2009 5:10 AM CDT
' Religion and government should not mix...' - Saddam Hussein - Sound familiar... The same values we embrace?!! Its the exact reason all religions could coexist in a homogeneous society; he didn't tolerate racism nor theocratical prejudice in Iraq. Women had more rights, light years ahead ofn any other ME society. This was the ONLY nation in the ME where all of this and more took place. I'm telling you, we cut off our frik'n nose to spite ourselves - Opening Pandora's box, with no idea how to close it.
Newser001
Jul 3, 2009 5:08 AM CDT
That has been my belief, all along, as well. The whole damn Iraqi thing is senseless; without true justification, what ever the argument.
2-bits
Jul 2, 2009 11:04 AM CDT
I believe Fondue is right.

 
Iraq • Iran • Saddam Hussein • FBI • weapons of mass destruction • Iraq war

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