Post by bossradio93 on Jun 22, 2005 17:50:29 GMT -5
What makes an ex-dictator happy? Doritos
June 21, 2005
BY RICHARD PYLE Advertisement
NEW YORK -- Saddam Hussein loves Doritos, admires President Reagan and considers both Presidents Bush "no good."
Those and other details of the deposed Iraqi leader's life in U.S. military custody appear in the July issue of GQ magazine, based on interviews with five Pennsylvania National Guardsmen who guarded Saddam for nearly 10 months.
They said he spoke with them in rough English, was interested in their lives and even invited them back to Iraq when he returns to power.
"He'd always tell us he was still the president. That's what he thinks, 100 percent," said Spec. Jesse Dawson, 25.
The GIs recalled that Saddam had harsh words for the Bushes.
"The Bush father, son, no good," Cpl. Jonathan Reese, 22, quoted Saddam as saying.
Spec. Sean O'Shea, then 19, said Saddam later mellowed in that view. "Towards the end, he was saying that he doesn't hold any hard feelings and he just wanted to talk to [George W.] Bush, to make friends with him," he told the magazine.
Dawson quoted Saddam as saying: ''He knows I have nothing, no mass weapons. He knows he'll never find them.''
The story said that once, when Saddam fell during his twice-a-week shower, ''panic ensued. No one wanted him to be hurt while being guarded by Americans.'' One GI had to help Saddam back to his cell, while another carried his underwear.
Saddam was friendly toward his young guards and sometimes offered fatherly advice. When O'Shea told him he was not married, Saddam "started telling me what to do," said the soldier. "He was like, 'You gotta find a good woman. Not too smart, not too dumb. Not too old, not too young. One that can cook and clean.'"
Then he smiled, made what O'Shea interpreted as a ''spanking'' gesture, laughed and went back to doing his laundry.
The soldiers also said Saddam was a ''clean freak'' who washed after shaking hands and used diaper wipes to clean meal trays, utensils and table before eating.
The article said Saddam preferred Raisin Bran Crunch for breakfast, telling O'Shea, ''No Froot Loops.'' He ate fish and chicken but refused beef.
For a time his favorite snack was Cheetos, and when that ran out, Saddam would ''get grumpy,'' the story said. One day, guards substituted Doritos corn chips, and Saddam forgot about Cheetos.
''He'd eat a family size bag of Doritos in 10 minutes,'' Dawson said.
AP-Chicago Sun-Times-June 21, 2005
June 21, 2005
BY RICHARD PYLE Advertisement
NEW YORK -- Saddam Hussein loves Doritos, admires President Reagan and considers both Presidents Bush "no good."
Those and other details of the deposed Iraqi leader's life in U.S. military custody appear in the July issue of GQ magazine, based on interviews with five Pennsylvania National Guardsmen who guarded Saddam for nearly 10 months.
They said he spoke with them in rough English, was interested in their lives and even invited them back to Iraq when he returns to power.
"He'd always tell us he was still the president. That's what he thinks, 100 percent," said Spec. Jesse Dawson, 25.
The GIs recalled that Saddam had harsh words for the Bushes.
"The Bush father, son, no good," Cpl. Jonathan Reese, 22, quoted Saddam as saying.
Spec. Sean O'Shea, then 19, said Saddam later mellowed in that view. "Towards the end, he was saying that he doesn't hold any hard feelings and he just wanted to talk to [George W.] Bush, to make friends with him," he told the magazine.
Dawson quoted Saddam as saying: ''He knows I have nothing, no mass weapons. He knows he'll never find them.''
The story said that once, when Saddam fell during his twice-a-week shower, ''panic ensued. No one wanted him to be hurt while being guarded by Americans.'' One GI had to help Saddam back to his cell, while another carried his underwear.
Saddam was friendly toward his young guards and sometimes offered fatherly advice. When O'Shea told him he was not married, Saddam "started telling me what to do," said the soldier. "He was like, 'You gotta find a good woman. Not too smart, not too dumb. Not too old, not too young. One that can cook and clean.'"
Then he smiled, made what O'Shea interpreted as a ''spanking'' gesture, laughed and went back to doing his laundry.
The soldiers also said Saddam was a ''clean freak'' who washed after shaking hands and used diaper wipes to clean meal trays, utensils and table before eating.
The article said Saddam preferred Raisin Bran Crunch for breakfast, telling O'Shea, ''No Froot Loops.'' He ate fish and chicken but refused beef.
For a time his favorite snack was Cheetos, and when that ran out, Saddam would ''get grumpy,'' the story said. One day, guards substituted Doritos corn chips, and Saddam forgot about Cheetos.
''He'd eat a family size bag of Doritos in 10 minutes,'' Dawson said.
AP-Chicago Sun-Times-June 21, 2005