TIME Exclusive: Notes from Saddam in Custody

TIME ^ | Dec. 14, 2003 | BRIAN BENNETT

[FairOpinion]

Saddam is talking, but he isn't cooperative. New details on his capture and his first interrogation

Saddam Hussein was captured on Sunday without a fight. But since then, according to a U.S. intelligence official in Iraq, the fallen dictator has been defiant. “He’s not been very cooperative,” said the official, who read the transcript of the initial interrogation report taken during the first questioning session.

After his capture, Saddam was taken to a holding cell at the Baghdad Airport. He didn’t answer any of the initial questions directly, the official said, and at times seemed less than fully coherent. The transcript was full of “Saddam rhetoric type stuff,” said the official who paraphrased Saddam’s answers to some of the questions. When asked “How are you?” said the official, Saddam responded, “I am sad because my people are in bondage.” When offered a glass of water by his interrogators, Saddam replied, “If I drink water I will have to go to the bathroom and how can I use the bathroom when my people are in bondage?”

The interrogators also asked Saddam if he knew about the location of Captain Scott Speicher, a U.S. pilot who went missing during the first Gulf War. “No,” replied the former Iraqi president, “we have never kept any prisoners. I have never known what happened.”

Saddam was also asked whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. “No, of course not,” he replied, according to the official, “the U.S. dreamed them up itself to have a reason to go to war with us.” The interrogator continued along this line, said the official, asking: “if you had no weapons of mass destruction then why not let the U.N. inspectors into your facilities?” Saddam’s reply: “We didn’t want them to go into the presidential areas and intrude on our privacy.”

The official is doubtful that the U.S. will get a significant amount of intelligence from Saddam’s interrogations. “I would be surprised if he gave any info,” he said. Other high-ranking regime members, he said, have by and large remained mum. “Tariq Aziz [former deputy prime minister] hasn’t really spoken,” he said, “and Abid Mahmoud [Saddam’s former personal secretary] hasn’t really given any information.”

The raid on the farm in al-Dawr, a village 15 miles from his hometown of Tikrit, initially came up empty, the official said. There was no Saddam Hussein in sight. Then one man on the property, apparently realizing the game was up, pointed out a bricked-in wall inside the basement of a small house on the property. Saddam is in there, he told the special forces operators from Task Force 121, who took down the farm with the aid of soldiers from the 1st Brigade of the Fourth Infantry Division. Saddam was bricked into his hiding place, he added. “They couldn’t get him out at first and had to dig, from either side of the hole,” said the official. The soldiers finally made a large enough passageway to drag him out. When he came out, he looked bedraggled, said the official: “He looked like a homeless man at the bus station.”

Along with the $750,000 in cash, two AK 47 machine guns and pistol found with Saddam, the U.S. intelligence official confirmed that operatives found a briefcase with Saddam that contained a letter from a Baghdad resistance leader. Contained in the message, the official said, were the minutes from a meeting of a number of resistance leaders who came together in the capital. The official said the names found on this piece of paper will be valuable and could lead to the capture of insurgency leaders around the Sunni Triangle.

The official said it may soon be clear how much command and control over the insurgency Saddam actually had while he was in hiding. “We can now determine,” he said, “if he is the mastermind of everything or not.” The official elaborated: “Have we actually cut the head of the snake or is he just an idiot hiding in a hole?”

[skr]

One report stated that some of his supporters were very unhappy that he didn't come out shooting. He is now a coward in their eyes, and it is sinking in that he wanted others to die for him but that he wasn't willing to die for Iraq. The bodies of his sons weren't as believable as the live pictures they're seeing of him. So far, his live capture seems to a plus compared to the alternative. How much airplay he's given may change that in the years he has left. Hopefully the new Iraq will efficiently and convincingly dispatch their former tyrant in a timely manner.

[spokeshave]

"“If I drink water I will have to go to the bathroom and how can I use the bathroom when my people are in bondage?”"

The Al Bore Iced Tea excuse.

[Tommyjo]

It's from Debka. Enough said!

[Joe_October]

...Saddam Hussein was not in hiding; he was a prisoner. . . .

So the Terrorists held him prisoner to keep their cause alive. Had Hussein surrendered immediately, the cause would be done?

[Joe_October]

...According to them (and their Palestinian soul brothers), Saddam was captured several weeks (months?) ago, and was brought out today to trump the new Halliburton "scandal."....

Well I for one want them to get OBL as soon as possible so I'm going to reveal the ultimate Halliburton scandal. They are raising the fees on ATMs.

Now that's a scandal. So, the President will have to do something to cover that scandal. Here comes OBL.

[leftofright]

forget torture.

let me ask all you all what, to me, seems an obvious question:

We have this waste of skin in captivity, and he's going to trial, and we know he's not going to cooperate.

what's stopping us from pumping a whole bunch of sodium pentathol into him and getting some answers on the MIA aviator, the WMDs, where he's stashed his billions, the guerilla outfits, and whatever else we need to know to help expedite setting up a free country.

screw the ACUL, Amnesty International or any other so-sister outfit that wants him treated humanely. we need answers.

[TASMANIANRED]

"The official is doubtful that the U.S. will get a significant amount of intelligence from Saddam’s interrogations. "

Calling Col West, Calling Col West, your talents are required in cell Ace of Spades.

[GeronL]

U.S. intelligence official confirmed that operatives found a briefcase with Saddam that contained a letter from a Baghdad resistance leader. Contained in the message, the official said, were the minutes from a meeting of a number of resistance leaders who came together in the capital. The official said the names found on this piece of paper will be valuable and could lead to the capture of insurgency leaders around the Sunni Triangle. if its true this could be big

[FairOpinion]

"The official said the names found on this piece of paper will be valuable and could lead to the capture of insurgency leaders around the Sunni Triangle. "

if its true this could be big

===

You are right -- I think the resistance will be squashed in short order.

[MindBender26]

Saddam will roll over like a bowling ball

#1. He as been accustomed to every luxury and deference. How he will have people who will give him sh*t and he won't like that. He will break, and quickly

#2, If he won't talk, they will simply tell him, "talk to us or 6 guys down the hall named Mohamed get you for about a hour, and your killed their families...."

He rolls, and quickly.

[lchoro]

More detailed article on his capture and interrogation

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3712145/

Doesn't sound at all to be cooperative.

[Joe_October]

....Billionaire Tyrant captured posing as a homeless rat...

Just another man that the Republicans made homeless by their cruel policies.

[TASMANIANRED]

“If I drink water I will have to go to the bathroom and how can I use the bathroom when my people are in bondage?”

Apparantly Sadam hasn't visited the dumper in 8 months because he is so full of shi.. ( can't remember how to do a strike through) concern for his people in bondage...

[Burlem]

She is probably calling Ron Kuby from the ACLU to defend him...........his rights were violated you know.

[GeronL]

I am sure there are liberals that will say Saddam will be able to destroy Bush with his words..... let'em keep thinking that.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

The interrogators also asked Saddam if he knew about the location of Captain Scott Speicher, a U.S. pilot who went missing during the first Gulf War. “No,” replied the former Iraqi president, “we have never kept any prisoners. I have never known what happened.”

I would like to find out what happened. I'm afraid I know.

[Rightwing Conspiratr1]

Shoot a gun off right next his head. Then get closer and closer......one mustache hair at a time.

I'd be a bit more subtle. I'd set a Toro woodchipper up in the corner of the room.

[Texaggie79]

I would have just filled it in and close the air vent.

[Cogadh na Sith]

Ooh! Good point!

[SoulStorms]

“Tariq Aziz [former deputy prime minister] hasn’t really spoken,”

Didn't we negotiate a surrender for this idiot, which involved securing the safety of his family members? We should give the family members a card with a 6 week expiration date. After that, if the Tariqs of the world haven't cooperated, then send the snakes back to the pit they came from.