Report: Saddam Writing Poetry in Prison

ABC News ^ | 7/26/04 | AP

[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."

[Conspiracy Guy]

Ping

[Lazamataz]

Love In Grey

I squeeze
The prisoners testicles
Until they pop
And that has made all the difference.

-- Saddam, 2004

[MinuteGal]

If I had the wings of an angel
Over these prison walls I would fly
I'd fly to the arms of John Kerry
And there I would willingly die.

-Saddam Hussein
San Queda Prison
2004

Leni

[MeekOneGOP]

Great pic and prose. :^D

[Conspiracy Guy]

What a talent!

[PreviouslyA-Lurker]

*chuckle*

; )

[Conspiracy Guy]

Spiderhole Man

[PreviouslyA-Lurker]

Make that "Murdering Tyrant Poet" and you've got a deal!

[Lazamataz]

Kurdish Spiders

Like grapes in a blender
Are the Kurds
And like little Miss Muffet
I shall show the Kurds
Their whey.

-- Saddam, 2004

(Beatniks start snapping their fingers in approval)

[PreviouslyA-Lurker]

LOL! Everyone's poetry is very funny, but the situation is that brought us to this is tragic.

Thank you for the ping and the laughs.

[Conspiracy Guy]

LOL

[Conspiracy Guy]

What Saddam did is beyond tragic. That he is languishing in captivity is FUNNY!

[PreviouslyA-Lurker]

; )

He's only languishing because he's no longer in control of everything and everyone. His prison conditions are pretty good, esp. for the crimes he commited.

[Conspiracy Guy]

He should have been left in his spiderhole and had it filled in with pressurized concrete up to his chin. As the concrete sets it crushes every bone in his body.

But then I am not a nice guy.

[MeekOneGOP]

Spiderhole Man

Oh, yeah. Almost forgot .....

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[Disclaimer courtesy of Conspiracy Guy]

[Conspiracy Guy]

Glad you posted the warning. EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!

[PreviouslyA-Lurker]

Should we continue to give him food and water (esp water) while in that condition to add to his pleasure?

[PreviouslyA-Lurker]

Moron was at the DNC!?! I thought he said he was for neither party!?!

[Conspiracy Guy]

No food or water necessary.

[PreviouslyA-Lurker]

...He got a new printer/scanner/fax/coffee maker (???? hehe!) for his computer...

Where can the rest of us get one of those?...