Saddam Feared Iran, Would Have Asked Bush for Help

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

(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. More»

Iraq invasion justification again called into question

(NEWSER) - A Pentagon-sponsored study of captured Iraqi intelligence archives has been unable to find a single operational link between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden or his al-Qaeda network, reports the McClatchy newspapers. The study will be released this week and is expected to refuel debate over the US justification for invading Iraq. Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld once described evidence for links between the two as "bulletproof." More»

Did not believe US would invade over weapons of mass destruction

(NEWSER) - Saddam Hussein revealed in FBI interrogations that he had no nuclear or biological weapons of mass destruction, but hid that fact to avoid invasion by Iran—and was stunned when the US invaded. "For him, it was critical that he was seen as the strong, defiant Saddam to prevent the Iranians from reinvading Iraq," an FBI agent tells "60 Minutes" in an interview to be broadcast Sunday. More»

It was going to create a phony sex video

(NEWSER) - In the annals of CIA subterfuge, this is a weird one: A special ops unit pitched the idea of trying to discredit Saddam Hussein as a gay pedophile before the 2003 invasion, reports the Washington Post . The idea was to create a phony home video purporting to show Saddam having sex with a teenage boy. Superiors eventually shot it down, though the unit did make a fake video with an Osama bin Laden lookalike bragging about his conquests of young males. More»

What bin Laden, Ahmadinejad, Mugabe rock out to

(NEWSER) - When they’re not plotting to kill you or thousands of others, the world’s most evil men like to kick back with some tunes, too. The Guardian gives us an idea of what’s on their playlists:

• Osama bin Laden: The al-Qaeda chief has the perfect soundtrack for hiding in caves from US B-52 bombers—the B-52s. One woman who claims she was his sex slave describes “this devout party boy who wanted to hear Van Halen or some B-52s. To this day, I would hear the song Rock Lobster in my sleep.”