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Report: Saddam Writing Poetry in Prison
ABC News ^ | 7/26/04 | AP

Posted on 07/26/2004 11:08:51 AM PDT by Gucho

LONDON July 26, 2004 — Saddam Hussein appears depressed and demoralized in solitary confinement, spending his time writing poetry, tending a garden and reading the Quran, according to a report published Monday in The Guardian newspaper. One of Saddam's poems is about George Bush, though the report did not specify whether that referred to President Bush or his father, Saddam's foe in the 1991 Gulf War.

The newspaper quoted Bakhtiar Amin, the human rights minister in the new Iraqi government, who said he had visited Saddam's cell on Saturday. Amin said he did not speak to the former Iraqi leader.

Bakhtiar said Saddam appeared "in good health and being kept in good conditions," but he "appeared demoralized and dejected," The Guardian reported.

Saddam's air-conditioned cell in a U.S. military prison is 10 feet wide and 13 feet long, Amin said. Saddam is not allowed to mix with other prisoners.

Amin had little to report on Saddam's poetry. "One of the poems is about George Bush, but I had no time to read it," Amin said.

He reported that Saddam was being treated for high blood pressure and a chronic prostate infection, and was gaining weight after losing 11 pounds during a time when he resisted all fatty foods.

Saddam and other detainees get an MRE (meal ready to eat) breakfast, and hot food twice a day, Amin said. Dessert might include oranges, apples, pears or plums, but Saddam also likes American muffins and cookies, The Guardian quoted Amin as saying.

Saddam is not allowed newspapers, TV or radio, but has access to 145 books mostly travel books and novels donated by the Red Cross.

Amin said Saddam tends a garden during his daily three-hour exercise period.

"He is looking after a few bushes and shrubs and has even placed a circle of white stones around a small palm tree," said Amin. "His apparent care for his surroundings is ironic when you think he was responsible for one of the biggest ecocides when he drained the southern marshes."

Amin, a Kurd from Kirkuk, was reportedly the first member of the new Iraqi government to visit Saddam.

During his visit, Amin said he met Ali Hassan al-Majid, also known as Chemical Ali, who allegedly ordered the use of chemical weapons against Kurds in the late 1980s; Saddam's half-brother, Barzan al-Tikriti, a former intelligence chief who was Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva until 1998; and Saddam's personal secretary, Abid Hamid Mahmud al-Tikriti.

Amin said he was approached by al-Tikriti, who was standing next to Ali Hassan al-Majid.

"Minister, what am I doing here?" Amin quoted al-Tikriti as saying. "I am not like the others, I am not like Ali Hassan al-Majid." Al-Tikriti asked that the message be passed on to Kurdish leaders and to new Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.

"I tried to control my emotions, but to be honest I wanted to vomit," The Guardian quoted Amin as saying.

"There before me were the men responsible for the industrial pain of Iraq mass murderers who were responsible for turning Iraq into a land of mass graves."


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: iraq; prisonersaddam
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To: Happy2BMe
"There was was a Tyrant from Nantucket" .....

21 posted on 07/26/2004 2:38:35 PM PDT by MeekOneGOP (There is only one GOOD 'RAT: one that has been voted OUT of POWER !! Straight ticket GOP!)
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To: Happy2BMe
"There once was a Tyrant from Nantucket" .....

22 posted on 07/26/2004 2:39:17 PM PDT by MeekOneGOP (There is only one GOOD 'RAT: one that has been voted OUT of POWER !! Straight ticket GOP!)
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To: MeekOneGOP

... who chopped off heads in buckets . .


23 posted on 07/26/2004 3:49:20 PM PDT by Happy2BMe (JOHN KERRY is as much like the WORKING MAN as WHOOPIE GOLDBERG is to GEORGE W. BUSH! - Vote BUSH!)
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To: Happy2BMe
And he said, with a sly grin ....

24 posted on 07/26/2004 4:36:21 PM PDT by MeekOneGOP (There is only one GOOD 'RAT: one that has been voted OUT of POWER !! Straight ticket GOP!)
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To: Happy2BMe
Make that:

"And he said, with an evil grin" ....


25 posted on 07/26/2004 4:37:56 PM PDT by MeekOneGOP (There is only one GOOD 'RAT: one that has been voted OUT of POWER !! Straight ticket GOP!)
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To: MeekOneGOP

. . I'll TORTURE YOU AGAIN ..


26 posted on 07/26/2004 4:40:06 PM PDT by Happy2BMe (JOHN KERRY is as much like the WORKING MAN as WHOOPIE GOLDBERG is to GEORGE W. BUSH! - Vote BUSH!)
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To: MeekOneGOP
"There once was a Tyrant from Nantucket" .....

Whose spider hole was so small he couldn't f^%&* in it.

27 posted on 07/26/2004 4:44:58 PM PDT by lewislynn (Why do the same people who think "free trade" is the answer also want less foreign oil dependence?)
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To: Happy2BMe

Then they blew off his head and said "(Kerry) it"!

Or, how about...

Violets are blue
Roses are red
Let's end this now
And hang him until dead.


28 posted on 07/26/2004 4:46:03 PM PDT by hoagy62 (I'm pullin' for ya...we're all in this together.")
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To: Happy2BMe
There once was a Tyrant from Nantucket,
who chopped off heads in the buckets.
And he said, with an evil grin,
I'll torture you again,
and leave you for worm food, ya got it?

29 posted on 07/26/2004 5:43:52 PM PDT by MeekOneGOP (There is only one GOOD 'RAT: one that has been voted OUT of POWER !! Straight ticket GOP!)
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To: MeekOneGOP

Mary had a little lamb.
Its fleece was white as snow.
So I killed it... and my sons raped and murdered Mary.
And then I killed her family and gassed her village.


30 posted on 07/26/2004 5:56:38 PM PDT by get'emall (Kofi Annan: Lawn Jockey on the Arab Street.)
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To: Happy2BMe
Hey, get this ! Bill O'Reilly just showed a clip of him talking to Mikey Moron
(Moore) and Moore is supposed to be on his show tomorrow night ! ha!

This should be good, eh?


31 posted on 07/26/2004 5:58:56 PM PDT by MeekOneGOP (There is only one GOOD 'RAT: one that has been voted OUT of POWER !! Straight ticket GOP!)
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To: get'emall
Heeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrre's Saddam !!

32 posted on 07/26/2004 6:02:20 PM PDT by MeekOneGOP (There is only one GOOD 'RAT: one that has been voted OUT of POWER !! Straight ticket GOP!)
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To: MeekOneGOP; Mo1; cyborg; PeaceBeWithYou; null and void; catpuppy
I'm so glad to know that underneath all that hate and evil and other superficial stuff, is really a sweet, gentle guy who's really misunderstood. < /sarcasm >

Can y'all believe this? What's next? A puppy? Baking cookies? Crocheting socks?

33 posted on 07/26/2004 6:23:03 PM PDT by sweetliberty ("A wise man's heart inclines him to the right, but a fool's heart to the left." (Eccl. 10:2))
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To: sweetliberty; Mo1; cyborg; PeaceBeWithYou; null and void; catpuppy
I can just see Saddam and Martha sharing the same cellblock! haha!


34 posted on 07/26/2004 7:38:23 PM PDT by MeekOneGOP (There is only one GOOD 'RAT: one that has been voted OUT of POWER !! Straight ticket GOP!)
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To: MeekOneGOP; JustAmy

JA maybe when Saddamy gets internet access he can be part of Poetry and Potpourri :D


35 posted on 07/26/2004 7:39:19 PM PDT by cyborg (http://mentalmumblings.blogspot.com/)
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To: MeekOneGOP

LOL! You read my thoughts.


36 posted on 07/26/2004 7:40:21 PM PDT by sweetliberty ("A wise man's heart inclines him to the right, but a fool's heart to the left." (Eccl. 10:2))
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To: cyborg; MeekOneGOP; Darksheare; NicknamedBob; Conspiracy Guy

LOL

We have some expert Troll Busters. I doubt he would enjoy himself much at the Place. :~)

Thanks for the ping. This is a funny thread. The Tyrant Poet.


37 posted on 07/26/2004 7:54:28 PM PDT by JustAmy (Please pray for our Military and their families.)
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To: cyborg
haha! :^D

38 posted on 07/26/2004 8:13:25 PM PDT by MeekOneGOP (There is only one GOOD 'RAT: one that has been voted OUT of POWER !! Straight ticket GOP!)
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To: sweetliberty
:^D

39 posted on 07/26/2004 8:14:02 PM PDT by MeekOneGOP (There is only one GOOD 'RAT: one that has been voted OUT of POWER !! Straight ticket GOP!)
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To: MeekOneGOP

:D


40 posted on 07/26/2004 8:15:33 PM PDT by cyborg (http://mentalmumblings.blogspot.com/)
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