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Saddam Hussein bonded with American soldiers in final days

D

Dalek

Member
I just heard an interview with this author of this book on NPR and it sounds fascinating.

link to audio interview: http://www.npr.org/2017/06/05/531536419/the-prisoner-in-his-palace

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wor...merican-soldiers-final-days-article-1.3217517

A dozen American soldiers became the last, if not the best, friends that Saddam Hussein ever had.

The 12 men, drawn from the 551st Military Police Company based in Fort Campbell, Ky., initially forged a bond among themselves during their six months as Saddam’s private guards.

Disturbingly, the crew known as “The Super Twelve” apparently bonded with Hussein, too — right to his bitter end.

In “The Prisoner in His Palace: Saddam Hussein, His American Guards, and What History Left Unsaid,” author Will Bardenwerper describes in intimate detail the experience of guarding the monstrous, murderous Iraqi tyrant.
Click to expand...

As they surrendered the despot to his executioners, several had tears in their eyes. Earlier, Hussein gifted one of his U.S. captors with an expensive Raymond Weill Swiss watch.

Those are but two of the eyebrow-raising examples of the ties that bound the Americans and the Iraqi with the blood of hundreds of thousands of countrymen on his hands.

Specialist Adam Rogerson explained that he found it impossible to see Hussein as a "psychopath" because the 69-year-old seemed "more like a grandpa."

More than a few of the soldiers, all from working class backgrounds, were in fact awed to be guarding a former head of state — even one with Hussein’s vile resume of human rights violation.
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Tucker Dawson (a pseudonym), the youngest of the 12 Americans, fell into a bizarre game of peek-a-boo with the sometimes playful Hussein.

"I was like a little kid," he recalled. "I'd seen him on TV, waving AKs up in the air and stuff ... and now he's in a cell. I'd just look at him. Then he'd look up at me real fast, and I'd look away real quick.

"He was messing with me. He finally looked up at me real fast and he said, 'I got you!' Then he started laughing.

"And I was like, 'Yes, sir.' "
Click to expand...

Specialist Steve Hutchinson, who enlisted in the wake of 9/11, went into the assignment determined to deal with it as "no more, no less than burning s--- in barrels."

The harder they come, the harder they fall.

When Hutchinson noted Hussein started responding warmly to some of the soldiers guarding him and not others, the veteran MP was flattered to be among the dictator’s favorites.

Hutchinson later decided to end his Army career the moment Hussein was hanged.

"To this day, I still hear that f---ing metal trapdoor slam," Hutchinson told the author. "I always believed in everything I did in the military, but the moment that floor dropped open, I knew I was done with serving."
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Bardenwerper contends the Super Twelve were proud of the fine line they walked with Hussein — "never giving him more than he was due, but according him the dignity they felt the older prisoner deserved."

Yet lines were definitely crossed. One soldier was ordered to stand down after stepping into Hussein's cell to share a Cohiba cigar.

Several fell into the trap of trying to please the prisoner. Hussein was infamous for his charisma and charm, even with his enemies.

Hutchinson, Specialist Chris Tasker and several other MPs decided to turn a storage room into an office for the prisoner.

It was planned as a surprise. Raiding the palace for old furniture, they installed a small wooden desk and a leather office chair.

The jaw-dropping finishing touch was to hang a small Iraqi flag behind the desk. The author explains the soldiers were trying "to make it seem more official and befitting a head of state."
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On Dec. 30, Hussein was wakened at 3 a.m. and informed of his pending death. He had a snappish moment, then calmly bathed and readied himself. His only concern: Had the Super Twelve enjoyed enough sleep?

At one point, Hussein beckoned Hutchinson to his cell, reached through the bars and surrendered the Raymond Weil watch he wore on trial days.

When the soldier resisted, Hussein forced it on his wrist. The timepiece is still ticking inside a safe at Hutchinson’s Georgia home.
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O

Omadahl

Banned
Given the amount of time they spent with him, it's understandable. They should have had a rotating guard to avoid this.
 
U

UnholySpectacle

Member
Everyone can be human, and everyone can be a monster. When the man can no longer be a monster, the human returns.

They saw him at his lowest point and were there around the clock so I can understand the deep connection.
 
H

human5892

Queen of Denmark
People expect an "evil" person to be a cartoon villain 24 hours a day. They don't realize that part of the power of someone like Saddam is charisma and manipulation.
 
I

Impeccable

Member
Probably easier for some people to be able to be themselves but still call horrible shots because they can choose to ignore their fallout.
 
F

Forerunner

Member
It’s happens in these types of environments. Guards/officers are around them for 8-16 hours a day and generally like five days a week. Of course some type of bond is going to grow.
 
M

Madness

Member
human5892 said:
People expect an "evil" person to be a cartoon villain 24 hours a day. They don't realize that part of the power of someone like Saddam is charisma and manipulation.
Click to expand...

This is a good point. People don't seem to understand this. You don't rise to power and become a dictator if you didn't know how to manipulate people or be charismatic. I still remember the hanging too. Actually created sympathy for the dictator.
 
V

Vixdean

Member
Not terribly surprising that a bunch of grunts were easily duped by an authoritarian. See: Trump and his base.
 
G

Geist-

Member
Not surprised at all, it's not like he was socially inept like some psychopaths, he was a charismatic guy. As long as they didn't try to help him escape or something, it just seens like the normal thing that happens when your around someone for long periods of time. Empathy is a powerful thing, it's the basis for stockholm syndrome. This is probably something like that but in reverse.
 
Y

Yohane

Member
TAXbTcB.jpg
 
K

Kyzer

Banned
No shit guy was charming their pants off thank god we killed him before they concocted a plan to save his dumbass
 
J

jph139

Member
Yeah, reading that over, dude wasn't a sad old man who needed friends, he was looking to get some perks. Cigars, his favorite cereal, an office desk...

I mean, maybe he actually liked the guards, too. But it looks more like schmoozing to me.
 
L

linkboy

Member
Building rapport is something the military teaches you (I'm was in the Air Force for 11 years) as a survival tool if you're captured by the enemy.

So it doesn't surprise me that someone like Hussein would know what to do, and have the tools to use it.

Also, if the soldier who received the watch is still on active duty, took the watch and didn't report it to his superiors, he could get in trouble.
 
Z

Zvonimir Boban

Banned
Tucker Dawson (a pseudonym), the youngest of the 12 Americans, fell into a bizarre game of peek-a-boo with the sometimes playful Hussein.

"I was like a little kid," he recalled. "I'd seen him on TV, waving AKs up in the air and stuff ... and now he's in a cell. I'd just look at him. Then he'd look up at me real fast, and I'd look away real quick.

"He was messing with me. He finally looked up at me real fast and he said, 'I got you!' Then he started laughing.

"And I was like, 'Yes, sir.' "
Click to expand...

Picturing this made me legit chuckle but then you read more and more of the article and yeah...

Several swore later that Hussein, if ever came to it, would have protected them in turn. Rogerson was among them.

"I'm a true believer that if one our helicopters went down and insurgents came to get him, he wouldn't have hurt us," Rogerson insisted. "We had a good relationship."
Click to expand...

Really? REALLY? Get the fuck out of here.
 
C

Coriolanus

Banned
jph139 said:
Yeah, reading that over, dude wasn't a sad old man who needed friends, he was looking to get some perks. Cigars, his favorite cereal, an office desk...

I mean, maybe he actually liked the guards, too. But it looks more like schmoozing to me.
Click to expand...

Then he'd have no reason to ask about how they slept or gift the watch. Wasnt about to get anything from that behavior with the impending hanging.

Is most likely both.
 
rackham

rackham

Banned
My dad, a Middle Eastern Christian, HATED when they executed him. He told me, "this is when the Iraq and the rest of the Middle East are about to go to shit, Hussein was the only one keeping the real terrorists in line.
 
C

CrunchyB

Member
rackham said:
My dad, a Middle Eastern Christian, HATED when they executed him. He told me, "this is when the Iraq and the rest of the Middle East are about to go to shit, Hussein was the only one keeping the real terrorists in line.
Click to expand...

This is a fairly common pov, his methods were absolutely ruthless, but he maintained order in a country whose peoples have been at each other's throats for centuries.

The invasion of Iraq was a terrible idea. Saddam could have been contained. Instead we've got ISIS now, thanks a lot USA!
 
V

Vermillion

Banned
human5892 said:
People expect an "evil" person to be a cartoon villain 24 hours a day. They don't realize that part of the power of someone like Saddam is charisma and manipulation.
Click to expand...

Not even that, but as you can see with anyone rationalizing their friends' shitty behavior (see: fraternities, police, etc.), even shitty people can show a "good" side.
 
R

Ryuuroden

Member
Kind of funny the liberal about turns on propping up dictators in the middle East and elsewhere. It's almost like people are learning about pragmatism and such even when it means entering into moral grey or even crossing lines you normally wouldn't cross. It's kind of why I saw a no fly zone and some way to protect the Kurds as the limit we should of interfered despite him being a brutal dictator. All you had to do was look at the history of the region. Now, does that mean we should prop up every dictator? No it doesn't but I think it should teach us not to make snap judgements on complex issues.
 
S

SwipeLeftHoney

Banned
CrunchyB said:
This is a fairly common pov, his methods were absolutely ruthless, but he maintained order in a country whose peoples have been at each other's throats for centuries.

The invasion of Iraq was a terrible idea. Saddam could have been contained. Instead we've got ISIS now, thanks a lot USA!
Click to expand...

The US had to get control of that oil somehow... That was the whole reason for them being in Iraq in the first place...
 
L

Lord Frieza

Member
Ryuuroden said:
Kind of funny the liberal about turns on propping up dictators in the middle East and elsewhere. It's almost like people are learning about pragmatism and such even when it means entering into moral grey or even crossing lines you normally wouldn't cross. It's kind of why I saw a no fly zone and some way to protect the Kurds as the limit we should of interfered despite him being a brutal dictator. All you had to do was look at the history of the region. Now, does that mean we should prop up every dictator? No it doesn't but I think it should teach us not to make snap judgements on complex issues.
Click to expand...

Do you think George W. Bush is a liberal?
 
Monocle

Monocle

Member
It's easy to imagine that horrible criminals must be eViL at all times, and bear no resemblance to ourselves, but the disturbing truth is that we're all just humans, and with few exceptions, people who are capable of the most vile cruelty are also capable of being pleasant and downright normal given the right conditions. Granted, some sociopaths can fake it.
 
Miggytronz

Miggytronz

Member
linkboy said:
Building rapport is something the military teaches you (I'm was in the Air Force for 11 years) as a survival tool if you're captured by the enemy.

So it doesn't surprise me that someone like Hussein would know what to do, and have the tools to use it.

Also, if the soldier who received the watch is still on active duty, took the watch and didn't report it to his superiors, he could get in trouble.
Click to expand...
during the collapse of Hussein a lot of military personnel took things from his palaces they guarded.
 
F

faridmon

Member
rackham said:
My dad, a Middle Eastern Christian, HATED when they executed him. He told me, "this is when the Iraq and the rest of the Middle East are about to go to shit, Hussein was the only one keeping the real terrorists in line.
Click to expand...

Yeah, my Mum had the same opinion and I am starting to agree. Too bad a lot of Gaffers don't know that, or just ignore that fact because of Selfish reason.

Hindsight is a powerful thing.
 
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