The interrogation of Saddam Hussein

[MillCreek]

https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/14/opinions/saddam-hussein-iraq-war-interrogations-george-piro-bergen/index.html

Interesting article and it will make me keep an eye out for the book.

[K Frame]

Is it a liberal cry fest that George Bush's fascists spoke harshly to him and were overall just meanies?

[Pb]

Is it a liberal cry fest that George Bush's fascists spoke harshly to him and were overall just meanies?

Doesn't look like it.  It is an interesting article.

I thought this statement was really interesting:

I asked Saddam, “When sanctions were lifted, what were you going to do?” He said, “We were going to do what we needed to do or what we would have to do to protect us.” Which was his way of saying he would have reconstituted his entire WMD program.

I did some reading about the US soldiers that guarded Saddam.  He was incredibly charismatic, and eventually got all of them emotionally engaged with him.  Some were very upset when he was executed.  The ability to do this is fascinating, given that they presumably knew the horrible things he had done.

[Northwoods]

Doesn't look like it.  It is an interesting article.

I thought this statement was really interesting:

I asked Saddam, “When sanctions were lifted, what were you going to do?” He said, “We were going to do what we needed to do or what we would have to do to protect us.” Which was his way of saying he would have reconstituted his entire WMD program.

I did some reading about the US soldiers that guarded Saddam.  He was incredibly charismatic, and eventually got all of them emotionally engaged with him.  Some were very upset when he was executed.  The ability to do this is fascinating, given that they presumably knew the horrible things he had done.

That’s not terribly unusual.  Serial killers like Ted Bundy had similar effects.  It’s something psychopaths are very good at.

[MillCreek]

The other thing that interests me about the book is the difference in interrogation styles between the military, CIA and FBI and I hope the author goes into that.  I have read some things about this, and bearing in mind that each organization has different goals from an interrogation, makes me wonder about the more forceful approach used by the military and CIA and if it is effective.