Counterterrorism Blog

Saddam Hussein: Cried when FBI interrogator went home

Living in a hush-hush prison cell inside Baghdad International Airport after his capture in a Tikrit spider hole, ex-Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was a study in megalomania for the FBI agents tasked to interrogate the despot. He was obsessive about cleanliness, constantly washing his hands with baby wipes - just like those used by most American G.I.s - and even used them to polish the fruit his military captors delivered. Though jailed and facing certain execution, he believed, Saddam still thought he would be viewed as one of the region's great leaders in a thousand years, he told his FBI interrogator.

This fascinating story of Saddam's last days unfolds in journalist Ronald Kessler's new book, "The Terrorist Watch: Inside the Desperate Race to Stop the Next Attack," which we report on exclusively in today's New York Daily News. The chapter on the FBI interrogation of Saddam reveals essential insights that are certain to raise new questions about how the U.S. became mired in Iraq.

Read my full post with more details at the Daily News' Mouth of the Potomac Blog.