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 Support The DrudgeReport; Visit Our Advertisers  GQ PROVIDES EXCLUSIVE LOOK AT SADDAM HUSSEIN?S LIFE BEHIND BARS, AS TOLD BY FIVE U.S. SOLDIERS WHO GUARDED HIM Mon Jun 20 2005 09:58:21 ET This Never-Before-Told Story Offers Firsthand Accounts of What It?s Like to Spend Time with America?s Most Highly Valued Detainee New York, NY ? June 20, 2005 ? Following the announcement that former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein will soon be brought to trial on multiple charges, GQ magazine sheds new light on the man and his life since being captured and imprisoned. Hussein longs for the days when Ronald Reagan was president, says that he never dealt with Osama bin Laden, and is absolutely certain that he will return to power, according to an account of his captivity detailed for the first time in the July issue of GQ magazine. In her story, ?Tuesdays with Saddam? (on newsstands nationwide June 28), GQ correspondent Lisa DePaulo interviews five U.S. soldiers who guarded and got to know Saddam Hussein for 298 days. The five soldiers are from the Pennsylvania National Guard, and they ranged in age from 19 to 25. All five are now back in the United States, having completed their tours of duty in Iraq. ?This is a very patriotic story about five ordinary Americans who, unexpectedly, were assigned to stand guard over one of the most notorious dictators of our time,? says DePaulo. ?They became witnesses to history, and as part of their duties they found themselves struggling to come to terms with the older man they grew to know and the reality of his infamous past as a ruthless dictator.? ?This is the opposite of Abu Ghraib,? says Andy Ward, GQ?s executive editor. ?These young men showed Hussein a respect and courtesy that made possible an unusual bond between captors and captive. And because of this, they were able to see a very different side of one of the most controversial figures in modern history.? Among the most intriguing revelations that Hussein shared with the soldiers are: � Hussein says that he is still president of Iraq and is absolutely certain that he will someday return to power. � He is proud that his sons died for their country. � While having little positive to say about either President George W. Bush or his father, George H. W. Bush, he expresses a desire to be ?friends? with them. � He also expresses a longing for the days when Ronald Reagan was still president. � He says that he never had an association with Osama bin Laden. � Hussein is a ?clean freak,? afraid of germs, obsessively washing his hands and carefully wiping his plate and utensils before eating. � He gave the soldiers advice on how to handle women (?You gotta find a good woman,? he told them. ?Not too smart, not too dumb, not too old, not too young. In the middle.?) � He thinks Dan Rather is ?a good guy.? � He loves Doritos chips and Raisin Bran Crunch cereal?but he won?t touch Froot Loops. Speaking about George W. Bush, Hussein told his guards, ?He knows I have nothing, no mass weapons. He knows he?ll never find them.? Hussein also invited the soldiers back to Iraq for a visit once he is acquitted and back in power. ?I?ll show you all around my country,? he said. ?You are like sons to me.? And speaking of embattled Iraq, he said to one of the young soldiers, ?It?s not beautiful now, but it will be when I?m back in charge.? Hussein talked about the time he spent in the spider hole near Tikrit prior to his capture. He said that he wasn?t hiding in the hole the entire time; he also hid in a house nearby. He would run into the hole when word came that troops were approaching. Regarding his capture, Hussein told the soldiers that he believes he was betrayed by a ?Judas,? an Iraqi who told the American troops where he was hiding?and he claims to know the identity of this betrayer. The former Iraqi president also stated that when the ?shock and awe? bombing of Baghdad began on March 20, 2003, he tried to flee his palace in a taxicab. ?America, they dumb,? he told the soldiers. ?They bomb wrong palace.? Developing... |
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