Free Republic

Medic treated imprisoned Iraqi leaders His patients came right from the top - of old regime By SCOTT WILLIAMS swilliams@journalsentinel.com Posted: Nov. 13, 2004 Entering a small prison cell under heavy security, Cook used Arabic to exchange a few introductory words with the patient. "Hello. God be with you," he said, employing a common Muslim greeting. "God be with you," replied Saddam Hussein. It was the first of a handful of face-to-face encounters Cook had with the ousted Iraqi leader while serving on an elite medical team entrusted to care for top officials of Hussein's regime. Cook also worked unsuccessfully...

Achille Lauro What happened during the hijacking of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro in 1985? AP Photo Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro, 1985 On October 7, 1985 four heavily armed terrorists representing the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) hijacked the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro, with some 100 mostly elderly passengers on board, in Egyptian waters. The hijackers demanded that Israel free 50 Palestinian prisoners, and to prove their determination, they shot and killed a disabled American tourist, 69-year-old Leon Klinghoffer, and threw his body overboard with his wheelchair. After a two-day drama, the Egyptian government, unaware that Klinghoffer...