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Inside the Secret World of Uday Hussein
Time ^ | April 13, 2003 | Simon Robinson

Posted on 04/13/2003 10:25:04 AM PDT by Mister Magoo

Inside the Secret World

Snapshots and papers found in a lavish, looted safe house paint a vivid picture of Saddam's unhappy eldest son Uday

By SIMON ROBINSON BAGHDAD

Infantrywoman Felicia Harris poses for a picture on the four poster bed at the palace of Uday Hussein

Sunday, Apr. 13, 2003

It's not easy being the freeloading, oversexed, overlooked scion of an Iraqi dictator. Consider Uday Hussein, 39, who in 1990 wrote to an uncle, "It is difficult being in the family of Hussein. People want to kill us." That quite possibly includes the people who looted his lavish three-story riverside home down to its marble walls. The looters took everything they could, including fuses from the fuse boxes. But they left documents that, as I learned during a walk-through of the building late last week, paint a colorful portrait of the unhappy eldest son of Saddam, who hasn't been seen since reportedly entering the restaurant obliterated by U.S. bombs in the al-Mansur neighborhood.

The palace, in the tony Baghdad suburb of Karada, was not Uday's main residence but rather a safe house in which Uday could hide out, as well as, according to a neighbor, a "love nest" to which he would bring his many girlfriends. Snapshots found in the remains of a darkroom show him fishing with friends, riding a motorbike in a black leather jacket, posing with pet lions and hanging out in shorts and a cowboy hat.

Many of the writings Uday left behind are mundane, like a few cards from his handwritten video-collection catalog. The Ls include License to Kill (two copies), Like Father Like Son and Loose Cannons. But some are significant. An official letter signed by Uday and countersigned by seven witnesses, for example, says that well-known opposition Shi'ite leader Thafer Mohammed Jaber was captured on Sept. 3, 1995, and was being kept in one of Saddam's palaces. Jaber, say local Iraqis, has not been heard from since. In a 1990 letter, Uday reveals that his father plans to create a greater Iraq that includes Kuwait, Palestine and Arabstan, a region of Iran historically controlled by Baghdad. The note says Saddam is beginning with the easiest—Kuwait. And then there is Uday's university transcript from 1988, the year he was awarded a degree in civil engineering. "He ranked 1st in a class of 174 students," the transcript reads before detailing his grades: excellent in every subject, except Physical Training and First Aid, in which he was satisfactory, the highest grades offered for such courses.

Although shot in an ambush in 1996, an attack that left him walking with a cane, Uday loved fast cars and faster living. In 1989, documents show, he bought a red Lamborghini Countach from a Kuwaiti dealer and sent a letter asking about a Ferrari that turned up in Jordan. "Is it still there?" he wanted to know. Neighbors say looters carried away bottles of Scotch and wine, but they left receipts from Uday's 1989 New Year's party, which seem to confirm he liked a tipple. The revelers downed 12 bottles of gin and 11 cases of beer, plus vodka, champagne and Pepsi.

Uday's expensive tastes weren't confined to cars and booze. A 1980 certificate from a Swiss dealer indicates that Uday owned a solid-gold watch with "54 full-cut fine diamonds." Money apparently wasn't a problem: the charred corners of $100 and $50 bills litter the house. "He used to light cigars with them," says a neighbor. That wealth and power made Uday quite a catch, judging from the love letters he kept from multiple girlfriends, one replete with a lipstick kiss. "Remember me when you listen to Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, which I heard for the first time with you," reads one.

"Whenever anyone asks me about the best days in my life I will tell them it was eight months with the best human in the world." TIME also found instructions for a "Health Diagnostics HIV Test."

There is no evidence of what Uday was doing during his final days in the palace, although a translation of a speech by President Bush on U.N. Resolution 1441 was found near a cracked safe. There was also a stack of printed e-mails in English and Arabic addressed to udaysaddamhussein@yahoo. com from Iraqis living abroad, promising to return to fight—as one correspondent wrote on March 5—"the force that seeks to destroy our country."

It was another force, his relationship with his father, that troubled Uday. Saddam picked his younger, less hotheaded son Qusay to succeed him. "My father wants to go down in history," writes Uday. "There is nothing in my heart towards my father, not any love or kindness. In the end I ask God to keep this house safe." In the end, his prayers were not answered.


TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: iraq; uday

1 posted on 04/13/2003 10:25:04 AM PDT by Mister Magoo
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To: Mister Magoo
"He ranked 1st in a class of 174 students,"

Of course he ranked first. And his father got 99.9% of the popular vote.

2 posted on 04/13/2003 10:32:41 AM PDT by EggsAckley ( Midnight at the Oasis......)
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3 posted on 04/13/2003 10:33:50 AM PDT by Support Free Republic (Your support keeps Free Republic going strong!)
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To: Mister Magoo
udaysaddamhussein@yahoo.com

Oh, come on. This is a joke, right?

4 posted on 04/13/2003 10:39:37 AM PDT by Hildy
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To: Hildy
Well, it's a valid address.

I just added Uday to my "Friends" list on Yahoo messenger.

I'll let you all know if I see him online.
5 posted on 04/13/2003 10:43:32 AM PDT by John H K
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To: Hildy
Guess Who Yahoos? Saddam's Son

By Brian McWilliams | Also by this reporter Page 1 of 1

02:00 AM Nov. 11, 2002 PT

The U.S. State Department says Saddam Hussein's oldest son is a murderer, rapist, torturer and smuggler. He has also been known to send death threats by e-mail.

So why is Yahoo apparently providing Uday Saddam Hussein with a free e-mail account, and why has Microsoft granted him a .NET Passport?


The website of Iraq's Babil newspaper, which is controlled by 38-year-old Uday, informs visitors that they can contact the publisher by e-mail at udaysaddamhussein@yahoo.com.

In providing e-mail service to Saddam's son, Yahoo is likely in violation of U.S. trade sanctions against Iraq, according to Rob Nichols, a spokesman for the U.S. Treasury Department, which enforces trade sanctions against Iraq through its Office of Foreign Assets Control.

"It is against U.S. law to provide services to residents of Iraq, even if it is a free account. And the provider should cut off the account," said Nichols, who noted that a 1990 executive order prohibits U.S. firms from exporting "goods, technology or services" to Iraq, with the exception of controlled food and medical supplies.

Citing the company's privacy policy, Yahoo officials declined to comment on the e-mail account registered in Uday's name. Spokeswoman Mary Osako said Yahoo is "aware of and respects U.S. trade law" and cooperates with law enforcement when asked.

Rather than moving to shut down the address, however, U.S. intelligence officials are "almost certainly" monitoring the account, said Robert David Steele, a former CIA officer and founder of Oss.net, a cyberdefense think tank.

"I would say that the U.S. government is probably reading everything in that account and is quite happy that Uday has that e-mail," said Steele.

Like his father, Uday is clearly in the cross hairs of the White House. A profile on the State Department website says Uday has a "history of extreme violent behavior including murder, torture and rape of women and girls." Uday is also "heavily involved in Iraq's smuggling against U.N. sanctions, and in illicit financial dealings," the profile says.

Messages sent to udaysaddamhussein@yahoo.com were not immediately returned.

Last year, using a different e-mail address, Uday reportedly sent a death threat to a British journalist. According to an article on KurdishMedia.com, a message from babil@uruklink.net signed by Uday warned reporter R.M. Ahmad that "we have been able to allocate your current residency" and "our brave (young) agents are able to stop people like you in the time and the place that we will determine."

KurdishMedia.com founders did not respond to e-mail interview requests, and the phone number listed on the newspaper's site was not in service.

In October, Uday's babil@uruklink.net account was found to have the same security problem as that of his father: an easily guessable password. Like Saddam's press@uruklink.net address, Uday's Babil inbox was protected by a five-letter password that matched the account name.

The registration record for Uruklink.net, the domain used by Iraq's government-controlled ISP, lists ama_72@yahoo.com as its contact address.

Unlike Saddam Hussein's Uruklink account, however, Uday's inbox contained very few messages aside from viruses, spam and e-mails from distribution lists.

Included in the Babil inbox was an Oct. 1 message from Microsoft confirming the successful registration of a Microsoft .NET Passport for Babil@Uruklink.net. Passport is Microsoft's online authentication and electronic wallet system.

A Microsoft representative would not comment on the issuance of a Passport to Babil@Uruklink.net but said Microsoft complies with all trade laws.

"Many Arabs believe U.S. intelligence is largely incompetent in cyberspace," and they underestimate current U.S. government efforts to gather information on Iraq, said Oss.net's Steele.

As a result, Uday probably does not expect that his account would be monitored, he said.

The Yahoo account is "not high value" and it is not likely to prove a fertile source of intelligence for U.S. terrorist trackers, Steele said. Just as with telephone wiretaps, "the returns just aren't there" in monitoring e-mail.
6 posted on 04/13/2003 10:45:16 AM PDT by Mister Magoo
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To: Mister Magoo
In a 1990 letter, Uday reveals that his father plans to create a greater Iraq that includes Kuwait, Palestine and Arabstan, a region of Iran historically controlled by Baghdad. The note says Saddam is beginning with the easiest—Kuwait.

Uday was one sick pup that learned to love torture from his father. He had no mercy, no love, no pity for anyone but himself. Good thing Hitler had no sons to raise, and Stalin destroyed both of his; Yakov, who attempted a failed suicide attempt and then died in the war, and Vasily by letting him be a alcoholic crazy idiot in the Soviet air force.

Mass murdering dictators have weird kids, but what else should one expect?

7 posted on 04/13/2003 10:46:30 AM PDT by xJones (I)
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To: EggsAckley
"He ranked 1st in a class of 174 students,"

Of course he ranked first. And his father got 99.9% of the popular vote.

I'm sure he was first in his class. Anyone managing to get ahead of him was shot...

8 posted on 04/13/2003 10:49:06 AM PDT by COBOL2Java
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To: Hildy
That came out a long time ago. Technically it was illegal for Yahoo to provide the service because of sanctions, but the US government never really cared since it was easy to monitor.
9 posted on 04/13/2003 10:50:34 AM PDT by MattAMiller (Iraq was liberated in my name, how about yours?)
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To: Mister Magoo
Infantrywoman Felicia Harris poses for a picture on the four poster bed at the palace of Uday Hussein

The soldier has a lifetime memory. She looks pretty good sprawled across that bed. I sense a new potential add campaing for PosturePedics.

10 posted on 04/13/2003 10:58:39 AM PDT by KingKongCobra
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To: Mister Magoo
Inside the Secret World of Uday Husseib

The author must've had a cold.

11 posted on 04/13/2003 11:00:50 AM PDT by Junior (Computers make very fast, very accurate mistakes.)
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To: Mister Magoo
Infantrywoman Felicia Harris poses for a picture on the four poster bed at the palace of Uday Hussein

Too bad she couldn't have found Uday there, and put that M-16 to good use on certain of his "parts". Can you imagine how much it much chap the Iraqi's ass to have females kicking said asses? BTW, she can't actually be an "Infantrywoman", because "infantry" is one of the few MOS closed to women, AFAIK. She might be an MP, as they've been involved in serveral firefights and have functioned as "infantry" in all but name.

12 posted on 04/13/2003 11:49:27 AM PDT by El Gato
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To: Mister Magoo
Now there's a picture for the "Stacked and Packed Calender".
13 posted on 04/13/2003 12:07:47 PM PDT by fella
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To: Mister Magoo
Anybody wanting to bust Yahoo's chops for allowing Uday to have a free email account should get a life. As stated in one of the posts, it allowed the intelligence agencies a small window into that far off world and was thus invaluable!
14 posted on 04/13/2003 12:15:04 PM PDT by thegreatbeast (Quid lucrum istic mihi est?)
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To: El Gato
Infantrywoman Felicia Harris poses for a picture on the four poster bed at the palace of Uday Hussein

One problem with the caption to the picture, she is most certainly NOT an "Infantrywoman." There is no such thing in the U.S. armed forces.

15 posted on 04/13/2003 12:24:17 PM PDT by IDontLikeToPayTaxes
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To: xJones
Uday was one sick pup that learned to love torture from his father. He had no mercy, no love, no pity for anyone but himself.

Obviously didn't get enuf hugs as a child.

16 posted on 04/14/2003 4:45:18 PM PDT by evad ("We'll put a boot in yer ass...it's the American way"..Toby)
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