Posted on 08/09/2004 5:06:22 PM PDT by SJackson
London - Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein appears depressed and demoralised in solitary confinement, spending his time writing poetry, tending a garden and reading the Qur'an, according to a report published on Monday in The Guardian newspaper.
One of Saddam's poems is about George Bush, though the report did not specify whether that referred to American President George W Bush or his father, former president George Bush, 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 demoralised and dejected," The Guardian reported.
Saddam's air-conditioned cell in a United States military prison is three metres wide and four metres 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 five kilograms 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 biscuits, The Guardian quoted Amin as saying.
Saddam is not allowed newspapers, television or radio, but has access to 145 books - mostly travel books and novels - donated by the Red Cross.
"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." - Sapa-AP
Has he submitted his poems to moveon.org or ANSWER?
The Bushs are thorny
The Bushs are mean
They ran over me
like a great big machine
There once was a man named Bush
Who soundly kicked me in the tush
He killed off my spawn
Now I'll be shot at dawn
I wonder where my WMD have gone.
Blue states are blue -
If Kerry can win,
I'll be back on top too."
I like that. Nice wrinkle.
ping
Oh great. The Bush administration outsourcing one more American job to an unskilled foreigner.
I hope this turns into a poetry thread.
We had the most marvelous poetry thread going for Rachel Corrie, but it was pulled.
Gee, I saw on one of the tabloid papers' front pages that Saddam had had a sex change operation paid for by you and me! Hmmm.
Hey that's two wacko tyrants W has disposed of. And he's just getting warmed up.
Why doesn't he write a poem about Kerry?
I'll even start it for him:
There once was a man from Nantuckett...
The threat of a nuke showed my might,
With Kofi and France in a fright.
The Kurds laughed in masses,
as I launched the gasses.
The bodies in piles made a sight.
So Bush and his friends want me dead,
Or at least that's what they have said.
So I sit in the dark,
in my cell that's so stark.
And stinky butt panties on head.
PS Thanks, Kenny!
See, see the Fat sky
Marvel at its big Orange depths.
Tell me, George Bush do you
Wonder why the Mole ignores you?
Why its foobly stare
makes you feel Blecky.
I can tell you, it is
Worried by your Snargleflat facial growth
That looks like
A Tuna.
What's more, it knows
Your Hookapop potting shed
Smells of Booger.
Everything under the big Fat sky
Asks why, why do you even bother?
You only charm Saddam's feet.
They gave Saddam a Queer Makeover. Oh! the Humanity!
Bravo!!!
Very good.
here's another one:
Out of the night it came with a "whoosh"
A rocket ordered by George Bush.
I ducked and dodged and ran away,
I hid in a palace for at least a few days.
But he kept up the pressure
til lo and behold
I ended up in a Spider Hole!
Keep it going if you can. I ran dry, not much of a poet I'm afraid.
Blast you! I was about to go out for a nice walk now that it's cooled off to a mere 112 - guess I'll have to stay here and put pen to 'puter.
A little potpourri ;-)
poetry? but GWB is already married.
Your grasp of the classical limerick form seems to be a bit rusty.
(The last line has to rhyme with Bush.)
There once was a man from tikrit ...
finish it for me.
He's depressed because he has to spend his days writing poetry, tending his garden, and reading the Koran? He should be ecstatic that he's not spending his days with a Sears Diehard hooked to his favorite body parts.
Yeah, like the people who were in *his* prisons.
Exactly. Too bad we are too civilized to give him a taste of his own medicine. Anybody have an industrial plastic shredder we could put his feet in?
Bwahaha! Hilarity!
Haiku for Saddam bump.
(sniffle) It's just so sad...
Couldn't they let him care for some of the headcutters we capture? I mean, throw the guy a bone. All that free time and no one to shred or mutilate...
I sense a Babylonian prose rising...ah, nevermind. I had white chili for dinner...
Peace and Grace
Peace and Grace
used to rule this place
and angels guarded the door
now peace is dead
and the angels have fled
and grace has turned into a whore
A poem that my father gave me when I went into the service in 72...... I still have it.
I wonder if he'll be able to publish a book of poems like Jewel did a few years ago. I wonder which book would be better.
I adore a foobly stare. Makes me all weak in the knees.
You are late, o Scribus Prolificus.
I loved to pick my truffles
I treated my subjects with care
But the bad men came and kicked my ass
O'er sea, and land and air
I hid way underground
In a place like where my truffles are found
But the bad men took me from my hole
This wouldn't have happened with President Dole
So now I write my poetry
And I think it's kind of scary
That in spite of all the hate for Bush
He's going to beat John Kerry
There once was a man named Saddam
Who just didn't seem to give a damn
France tried to protect him
And keep us from going to war
Now they're whining because he's not in power anymore
His two evil sons
Are dead and in the ground
Soon, his own people
Will make sure that he's no longer around.
Kill my Landlord
Kill my Landlord
C-I-L-L my landlord.
Hmmm... I'm sure you can contribute something *interesting* to this thread... ;-)
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