Saddam 'a clean freak'

2005-06-20 18:53

New York - Thrust unexpectedly into the role of prison guards for Saddam Hussein, a group of young American soldiers found the deposed Iraqi leader to be a friendly, talkative "clean freak" who loved Raisin Bran for breakfast, did his own laundry and insisted he was still president of Iraq, said a report on Monday.

GQ magazine's July issue said Saddam greatly admired President Ronald Reagan and thought President Bill Clinton was "OK", but had harsh words for both president Bushes, each of whom went to war against him.

Chaplain Jonathan "Paco" Reese, 22, quoted Saddam as saying: "The Bush father, son, no good."

But, his fellow GI specialist Sean O'Shea, then 19, said Saddam later softened that view.

'I have no mass weapons'

O'Shea told the magazine: "Towards the end, he was saying that he doesn't hold any hard feelings and he just wanted to talk to Bush, to make friends with him."

A third soldier, specialist Jesse Dawson, quoted Saddam as saying of Bush: "He knows I have nothing, no mass weapons. He knows he'll never find them".

The three soldiers were among members of a Pennsylvania national guard unit that was activated for duty in Iraq in late 2003.

Instead of going into combat, they were chosen by the FBI to serve as guards at a US military compound, where Saddam was an "HVD," or high value detainee.

According to the article by GQ correspondent, Lisa DePaulo, the nine-month assignment was so secret that they could not tell their families.

Military permission

The article named five of the soldiers who agreed to discuss the experience, with the military's permission.

They were required to sign statements prohibiting them from revealing the location, dates, garrison strength and certain other details of Saddam's incarceration.

According to the article, they were free to describe their interactions with the prisoner.

Lynnette Ebberts of the Pentagon said on Monday officials had no immediate comment because they had not seen the article.

The soldiers' descriptions of Saddam's life in prison match the recent photos of him that apparently were smuggled out of prison - showing the former dictator in his underwear and a long robe.

'Panic' after Saddam fell

They describe a man who once lived in palaces and now occupied a cell where he had no privacy.

Once, when Saddam fell down during his twice-a-week shower, the article said, "panic ensued. No one wanted him to be hurt while being guarded by Americans."

It said one GI had to help Saddam back to his cell, another carried his underwear.

Saddam learned the names of the soldiers guarding him, was interested in the details of their lives, which they were not supposed to discuss, and sometimes offered fatherly advice.

O'Shea said when he told him he was not married, Saddam "started telling me what to do. He was like, 'you gotta find a good woman".

- AP