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."
Why do new threads get posted when merely bumping the old thread would do the job even better?
:^)
If the government cannot prove her guilty of the crime about which they questioned her, I don't think it should then be able to prosecute her for saying that she didn't do the crime. Further, although I realize that the prosecution of insider trading is to protect those of us who must invest without the benefit of friends in high places, if one cannot act upon a phone call from one's broker, then why are we paying all those brokers and analysts all that loot?
Do you think that if you or I LIED to the FBI and obstructed justice that we would get off scott free? She lied to them in the course of an investigation. I certainly would not expect to get off. 10 months, with only 5 in prison is pretty light, imho .....I just wish that her peer had to face the same.
"Think of the great following Martha has throughout the country - There's no telling how she's broadened my base today," President Bill Clinton said at the luncheon.
LOL
Love it. Thanks.
; )
PS. It needs a picture real bad!
Saw your limericks. Ping
Posters of the new thread probably didn't see the original for whatever reason, then it get some posts and people have a decision between the 2. They chose new over old to stay current, breaking, or cutting edge? Maybe they prefer one over the other because they know some people on it, or like one more.
Provided the mods don't see the duplicate or are not pinged to the new one. In which case the new gets locked or deleted.
Then again it may have something to do with the deterioration of the earths magnetic field.
I go with the last answer.
You're right - should be a good 'un!
The panned on Moron one time last night at the DNC and he appeared either to be in deep meditation during Bill Clinton's speeeech or had some serious constipation going on.
i read somewhere that he's a big fan of Jonathon Livingston Seagull
How much we gonna charge for our poetry book and where will the signing be? I just have one demand and that is I don't want either Saddam or Bill to get a signed copy (of our 2 page book).
hehe!I'm heading out to my Dad's in a few minutes. He got a new printer/scanner/fax/coffee maker (???? hehe!) for his computer and I have to get it set up for him. I'll be out most of the day. See ya'll later on tonight hopefully.
Have a good one, Happy!
Just remember not to put the coffee grinds directly into the scanner paper feeder - makes a big mess while the coffee's brewing!
LOL! I bet! :^D
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