The National Security Archive has got hold of some fascinating transcripts of quite a few interrogations conducted by the FBI with Saddam Hussein in 2004. Of course, any really juicy contemporary stuff is either redacted or unreleased, so the documents primarily focus on interviews related to the history of Iraq and the region.
Amongst other things, the interviews reveal how dictators justify their rule to themselves. The February 15 report reads, "Hussein advises that he considers himself a revolutionary, not a politician. In both 1968 and 1974, he asked the Party to allow him to be excused from his official position. However, the Party refused his request." I wonder what the consequences would have been for the party hierarchy if they'd accepted his offer!
Similarly, on May 10, Hussein remarks how he does not require an extravagant lifestyle. "Hussein was then question on the number of palaces and their extravagant nature," the interrogator wryly reports. "Hussein stated that the palaces belong to the nation and not to one person." An argument that's been around for at least as long as there's been kings squatting on the necks of servile labour.
Think Of the Children
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