WarlordZeroOne
07-05-2009, 12:48 PM
source. www.googlenews.com (http://www.googlenews.com)
Saddam Hussein's last interviews revealed
Saddam Hussein told his FBI interrogators that he had made a mistake when he destroyed Iraq's weapons of mass destruction without independent verification from United Nations inspectors.
By Ian Johnston
Published: 11:06AM BST 05 Jul 2009
The former Iraqi president made the admission in a series of 20 formal interviews and at least five casual conversations with US interrogators between February and May 2004, which have been released under American freedom of information legislation.
He said he did not want the world to know that his stockpile of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) had effectively been "eliminated" by UN sanctions because he feared long-term enemy Iran might take military action if Iraq appeared weak.
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Barack Obama visits CIA to calm uproar over release of secret memosSaddam said he had felt the country was vulnerable and had harboured hopes of a "security agreement with the US to protect [Iraq] from threats in the region".
Fears that Iraq possessed WMDs and was co-operating with al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden prompted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 by mainly US and UK forces.
However the transcripts of the interviews, in which he was questioned by George Piro, an FBI agent who spoke Arabic, detail Saddam's denial that he was working with bin Laden.
He said the al-Qaeda leader was little different to many zealots in the past and said he had never personally met him.
However Saddam admitted meetings between bin Laden and Iraqi officials in the mid-1990s and that there had been requests from the terrorist group for funding, but insisted his government had not co-operated.
Asked why not as the US was their shared foe, Saddam replied he had not viewed America as an enemy despite the first Iraq war. He added that he would have chosen North Korea or China as an ally had he sought to take sides against the US.
Saddam said the morale of US troops had been affected when they discovered Iraq did not possess the WMDs they had been sent to find.
"If a soldier does not see the logic he will not perform as well or be as obedient. A soldier must be convinced, otherwise discipline is a problem," he said.
"If you asked the American soldier, who came to Iraq to find weapons of mass destruction but none have been found, and who came to remove the leaders of the Saddam dictatorship who are now all in jail, whether he wanted to stay or go, he would say go."
He also denied taking military action against civilian Kurds, describing such reports as "a lie", and said the suggestion he had used body doubles to avoid being assassinated as "movie magic, not reality".
Saddam Hussein's last interviews revealed
Saddam Hussein told his FBI interrogators that he had made a mistake when he destroyed Iraq's weapons of mass destruction without independent verification from United Nations inspectors.
By Ian Johnston
Published: 11:06AM BST 05 Jul 2009
The former Iraqi president made the admission in a series of 20 formal interviews and at least five casual conversations with US interrogators between February and May 2004, which have been released under American freedom of information legislation.
He said he did not want the world to know that his stockpile of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) had effectively been "eliminated" by UN sanctions because he feared long-term enemy Iran might take military action if Iraq appeared weak.
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Saddam 'lied about WMDs to protect Iraq from Iran'
Four US soldiers killed during Iraq pull out
Iraq celebrates National Sovereignty Day but needs a master plan of its own
We must take on board the lessons of Iraq
Barack Obama to meet CIA agents to calm anger over 'torture' memos
Barack Obama visits CIA to calm uproar over release of secret memosSaddam said he had felt the country was vulnerable and had harboured hopes of a "security agreement with the US to protect [Iraq] from threats in the region".
Fears that Iraq possessed WMDs and was co-operating with al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden prompted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 by mainly US and UK forces.
However the transcripts of the interviews, in which he was questioned by George Piro, an FBI agent who spoke Arabic, detail Saddam's denial that he was working with bin Laden.
He said the al-Qaeda leader was little different to many zealots in the past and said he had never personally met him.
However Saddam admitted meetings between bin Laden and Iraqi officials in the mid-1990s and that there had been requests from the terrorist group for funding, but insisted his government had not co-operated.
Asked why not as the US was their shared foe, Saddam replied he had not viewed America as an enemy despite the first Iraq war. He added that he would have chosen North Korea or China as an ally had he sought to take sides against the US.
Saddam said the morale of US troops had been affected when they discovered Iraq did not possess the WMDs they had been sent to find.
"If a soldier does not see the logic he will not perform as well or be as obedient. A soldier must be convinced, otherwise discipline is a problem," he said.
"If you asked the American soldier, who came to Iraq to find weapons of mass destruction but none have been found, and who came to remove the leaders of the Saddam dictatorship who are now all in jail, whether he wanted to stay or go, he would say go."
He also denied taking military action against civilian Kurds, describing such reports as "a lie", and said the suggestion he had used body doubles to avoid being assassinated as "movie magic, not reality".