FBI special agents had 20 formal interviews and at least five casual conversations with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein ("High Value Detainee #1") after his capture by U.S. troops in 2003.
That's according to secret FBI reports released via Freedom of Information Act requests by the nonprofit National Security Archive at GWU and posted online last week. Read more on the jump.
Here's a few highlights from the news reports on the documents:
-- Hussein told an FBI interviewer before he was hanged that he allowed the world to believe he had weapons of mass destruction because he was worried about appearing weak to Iran (Washington Post)
-- Hussein said in 2004 that his government had condemned the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States and had no connection with Osama bin Laden, saying that he would reach out in a crisis to China or North Korea, rather than to bin Laden, whom he called a "zealot." (Washington Times)
-- Hussein believed Iran was a significant threat to Iraq and deliberately left open the possibility he had weapons of mass destruction, rather than appear vulnerable. In his opinion, U.N. inspectors would have directly identified to Iranians where to inflict maximum damage to Iraq. (Reuters)
-- Hussein told an FBI interviewer before he was hanged that he allowed the world to believe he had weapons of mass destruction because he was worried about appearing weak to Iran (Washington Post)
-- Hussein said in 2004 that his government had condemned the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States and had no connection with Osama bin Laden, saying that he would reach out in a crisis to China or North Korea, rather than to bin Laden, whom he called a "zealot." (Washington Times)
-- Hussein believed Iran was a significant threat to Iraq and deliberately left open the possibility he had weapons of mass destruction, rather than appear vulnerable. In his opinion, U.N. inspectors would have directly identified to Iranians where to inflict maximum damage to Iraq. (Reuters)
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