Editorial 11/20/97

AN INTERVIEW WITH SADDAM HUSSEIN

(An Editorial Allegory)

ince Saddam is in the news again, I get the urge to hear the whole story. I wonder what the other side is thinking. What we receive in this country is the administration's view and the president's remarks. It seems that no person thinks he does anything wrong. Everyone makes up good reasons for what they do. Even Adolph Hitler could explain his abuses of power. We are well adapted to doing that in this country also. Smooth rhetoric or demonization tends to sway the citizens into accepting almost anything. Because of this, I have taken the liberty of calling up Saddam on the phone and asking him some questions, just to get his point of view, you understand. Oh, yes, it's not a real interview. I had to pretend I called him. Anyway, in my mind's eye I had a conversation with him and I thought I would share it with our readers. The conversation was formed out of bits and pieces along with one-liners that slip into the main media regarding the perceptions and conclusions of the Iraqis. The main media do not let you dwell on it long, however, since it soon has you all awash in all of the normal political propaganda again. I think this is true for most countries. So, here is the author's perceptions after wading though hundreds of reports on the subject. Some of the answers are actual quotes and some are answers given by other Middle Eastern figures. Some are answers given by our own national figures and turned around to see what they sound like coming from Saddam.

It has been said, "don't judge a man until you have walked a mile in his shoes." It may also be said, "don't make war against a man until you have walked a mile in his shoes." Perhaps this "interview" will help us walk a little way in the shoes of the Iraqis.

The WINDS: Mr. Hussein, how are you today?

SADDAM: Allah is good.

The WINDS: Mr. Hussein, I have a few questions for you. I was wondering if you would answer them.

SADDAM: I would be happy to. I want to be a voice of integrity, persuasion and courage, seeking peace at this time.

The WINDS: We would like to know your general outlook of your most recent situation with the U.N.

SADDAM: Our people need to steel ourselves and be determined. It's too dangerous an issue and too powerful a precedent for the nation of Iraq to show itself completely impotent if we do not proceed on this. It is a shocking thing for the U.S. to make women and children feel that they must protect their president from evil forces without the country. We must not be deterred with threats of violence against our people.

The WINDS: You see this then as a personal national issue?

SADDAM: It is not only a personal issue. I do not say this to frighten you, but I am calling on every responsible world leader to join with me in stopping the threat posed by the U.S. Fundamentally, what is at stake with the U.S. is the battle against organized forces of destruction. We must look at this issue and think of it in terms of the innocent Japanese people who died in the subway when the Sarin gas was released. The U.S. is the world's largest depository of weapons of mass destruction and they are able at any time to unleash their violence on innocent people anywhere in the world.

The WINDS: We have noticed recently that you have seriously challenged the Americans in regards to the inspection of weapons of mass destruction in your own country.

SADDAM: Yes, Iraq and its allies must be resolute in resisting the Clinton regime's aggression against our sovereign nations. We are hoping that the Americans will see the light and overthrow their dictator, but it seems other and more serious measures must be taken.

The WINDS: What about your weapons of mass destruction? You have made yourself a pariah in the world, you know. Our president says he wants to keep the weapons of mass destruction out of the wrong hands.

SADDAM: That's how the Western news portrays it. Actually, we received most of those weapons from the U.S. during our war with Iran. We were somewhat surprised at the sophistication of the American arsenal and we feared a nation as strong as the U.S. with so many weapons of mass destruction. We felt that it should not be trusted. Because of this, we tried to perfect our own weapons. A nation such as the U.S., with that much destructive power, must be afraid of something or must want to rule over the entire earth and we want to be able to protect our interests in this matter. As far as the "wrong hands" goes, I think that applies to the Clinton regime. It is he who is doing the destroying and I think if they are in anybody's hands, they should not be in his. To judge who has the weapons of mass destruction, one only needs to look at the war we had here.

The WINDS: We were told you used some gas against Iran and you killed some of them with it.

SADDAM: We used some of the gas we got from America. America has used gas in its wars also. The Clinton regime even uses gas against its own people and it does not seem to differentiate between military and civilian use. He has even used it against children. Actually, the U.S. has more weapons of mass destruction and more gas than any nation on earth.

The WINDS: We have heard that you will shoot at American spy planes if they fly over.

SADDAM: Yes, that's correct. Our nation is united on this. It is not a matter of the Clinton regime flying over Iraq. It is that we understand the dictator's true purposes. Clinton wants to use his weapons of mass destruction against our women and children to make the people want to get rid of me. His greatest weapon of mass destruction at present is the use of sanctions. With his siege against our country, hundreds and thousands of our little children have died and all it does is make the people love me more and hate him more. The Clinton regime blames me for their hunger, but that is so ridiculous. Would Americans like us to starve them because we do not like their president and then blame their president for starving them? The U-2 is not used to find stores of secret weapons. It is used as a tool of humiliation. We cannot even control our own skies. The Americans love to flaunt their power over us.

The WINDS: Is that why your people want to act as a shield for you?

SADDAM: Yes, that's right. Clinton wants to tell folks that the people are made to do that. They love me because Clinton has made them hungry. In this way they show solidarity against the evil, totalitarian Clinton regime.

The WINDS: You call Clinton a dictator. Don't you know we elected him?

SADDAM: Yes, I know that. I was elected in Iraq also. Being a dictator does not rule out an election. Most dictators have been elected one way or another. Clinton is most definitely a dictator and a ruthless one at that. A dictator is one who dictates and forces his will upon others. This is what Clinton does in regards to nations everywhere.

The WINDS: We have been told that you have killed some of your adversaries. Even the Kurds have suffered under your attacks.

SADDAM: We have tried to establish some sort of order in our country since we were attacked by the Clinton regime. In your own country, did you not have a war between the states? Millions of your citizens died in that war, didn't they? And speaking of atrocities, I cannot think of a single incident where we have been as violent as the Clinton regime has been against dissidents. I speak of what happened at Waco. Yes, we have heard about that.

The WINDS: You were attacked because you invaded the small, helpless country of Kuwait. Why did you do that? There were some rapes also, and, in some cases, your soldiers tortured civilians.

SADDAM: First of all, you may want to remember Vietnam. In war sometimes one cannot restrain everyone and make all of the military nice people. Remember the My Lai massacre? Your own soldiers massacred a whole village of innocent civilians, raping as they went. Your soldiers also tortured, even throwing some of your enemies from planes.

The WINDS: Well, what about your invasion of Kuwait?

SADDAM: Our invasion of Kuwait was not as your invasion of Vietnam. Vietnam was never considered your country. Kuwait used to be part of Iraq until it was partitioned by the West. We see ourselves simply wanting to take back what belongs to us. If Canada came and partitioned off Alaska, wouldn't you want to get it back? Besides all of that, we approached the U.S. about getting it back and the U.S. did not express any objection until we made our move. I think we were simply set up for an embarrassment.

The WINDS: Why do you think the U.S. would want to embarrass you?

SADDAM: The Moslem world has been united for centuries. The entire Middle East was Moslem. When the Jews wanted to take back the territory once occupied by them, the West, along with the power of the U.N., arranged that. Many Moslems were displaced. This caused a united animosity among the Arab and Moslem states toward the West. By setting Iraq up as an especially evil empire (we are no more evil than America), the Americans managed to divide our once united people. This weakened us and gave power to the U.S. to do just about anything it wants over here. The U.S. interest is not money only, but religious and moral.

The WINDS: What do you mean?

SADDAM: Well, the great Satan intends to break down the morals of our religion. The West wants our women to be like your women. You call immorality freedom but we call it immorality. You in the West make fun of us because our women are covered. Concerning the religion aspect, the West generally embraces a Jewish Christian religion. You view us as enemies or, at best, second class. The West is working to break down our traditional religion. Our people suffer everywhere. Does not your freedom of religion include Moslem also?

The WINDS: Moslems have freedom of religion in the West.

SADDAM: Yes, that is true, but there is persecution. It is not overt persecution, generally, but covert. Your country destroys the morals of people through your media and movies. You have turned your whole society into cold, heartless people. Seventy-five per cent of your people want to bomb us into submission (even though they deny that) and we have done nothing to them. This is the demoralization and persecution I speak of. Your nation's persecution of us is a hate crime you speak so much about. You have made us the devil, but we have done nothing to you. Your ruler, Clinton, is guilty of hate crimes against humanity and no suffering deters him from his purpose.

The WINDS: Why do you call the U.S. the great Satan? We take exception to that.

SADDAM: The word Satan means adversary. We believe the U.S. to be the great adversary. If you were Moslem and lived in Iraq, wouldn't you believe that the U.S. was your greatest adversary?

The WINDS: Getting back to the current news, you keep saying Clinton when it is the united efforts of all the nations who oppose you. So why did you expel the U.N. observers? You sent them out of your country and made them drive ten hours. It made them very tired. We were told by the news media and the president that they were just about to find something.

SADDAM: Nonsense! That is not what is happening at all. I must say I cannot dredge up much sympathy for the U.N. observers. We have hundreds of thousands of little ones starving to death and the U.N. inspectors are tired. Poor boys. It reminds me of the French revolution where those who beheaded thousands claimed their arms were getting sore. Those inspectors have been in our country for six years. They have flown planes over us, driven cars down all of our roads, found whatever they wanted and destroyed whatever they wanted. You mean to say that in six years they cannot find some hidden stash? No, what they want is to drag us down so that we are simply an impotent, groveling bunch of desert dwellers. They want our minds and souls, so they linger, continuing to make up things to look for until they suppose the nation will rise up and throw their president out. Then they will be in full control of whomever is elected since they will arrange for that. No, death with dignity is better than life under the heel of an immoral American regime. In regards to the U.N., it is only force, make-believe and money that has made this coalition of nations come against us. America threatens and twists arms and anything else it can do to get agreement. The U.N. coalition is a joke from our point of view.

The WINDS: Is that why you have taken this stand?

SADDAM: Yes, that is why.

The WINDS: Do you think you can win against such a powerful country as the U.S.?

SADDAM: Allah knows. I have watched your country's methods. Even with that little event in Waco, there are clues. First, there is the attack. Next, there is a long siege. Finally, there is the holocaust. I think that is what the Clinton regime wants now. He wants to make a holocaust of us. He wants to make us an example to any Middle Eastern nation or Moslem that dares to confront him.

The WINDS: Do you really think those are his motives?

SADDAM: Yes. Your ruler is a proud, arrogant man. Allah will humble him sooner or later. Iraq is not seeking a confrontation, but if others decide another way than dialogue, they will be fully responsible. If Clinton would just cease his saber rattling, we might make some progress.

The WINDS: Thank you for speaking with us, Saddam.

SADDAM: My pleasure.