The Guardian reports on how Saddam Hussein is spending his time these days.
Saddam Hussein is spending his time in solitary confinement writing poetry, gardening, reading the Qur’an and snacking on American muffins and cookies. One of his poems is about his arch-enemy George Bush.
The intriguing glimpse of the former dictator’s daily routine as he awaits trial on charges of war crimes and genocide was given to the Guardian yesterday by Iraq’s human rights minister, Bakhtiar Amin, who visited Saddam in detention on Saturday.
Mr Amin, a longtime Iraqi human rights campaigner who had family members killed by the former regime, said he could not bring himself to speak to Saddam but observed that he was “in good health and being kept in good conditions”.
However, Mr Amin said the former president “appeared demoralised and dejected”.
Saddam is being held in a white-walled air-conditioned cell, three metres wide and four metres long, Mr Amin said. He is kept apart from the other prisoners, who can mix freely with each other during the daily three-hour exercise periods.
Since appearing in court, Saddam had taken to reading the Qur’an and writing poetry, Mr Amin said. “One of the poems is about George Bush, but I had no time to read it.”
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Like the other high-value detainees, Saddam’s day begins with a substantial breakfast, an MRE (meal ready to eat), which provides 1,300 calories. He also gets hot food twice a day, which could consist of rice or potato and broccoli, along with either fish, beef or chicken. For dessert, there might be oranges, apples, pears or plums, but the former leader has developed a penchant for American snacks such as muffins and cookies.
There is regular access to showers and a barber, and a personal grooming kit that includes soaps, toothpaste, comb, shampoo and deodorant, and plastic sandals.
For relaxation there are no newspapers, TV or radio, but there are 145 books – mainly novels and travel books – donated by the Red Cross, which visits the detainees every six weeks.
Mr Amin said Saddam works out in his cell and then uses the daily exercise period to tend a small garden in an outside yard.
“He is looking after a few bushes and shrubs and has even placed a circle of white stones around a small palm tree,” said Mr Amin, a Kurd from Kirkuk, who is the first member of Iraq’s new interim government to visit Saddam. “His apparent care for his surroundings is ironic when you think he was responsible for one of the biggest ecocides when he drained the southern marshes.”
In other words, while Saddam professes disdain for America and George Bush, he snacks on American cookies and takes care of bushes.
Meanwhile, in an Israellycool exclusive, here are a couple of Saddam’s poems about George Bush.
There once was an infidel named Dubya,
Whose remains I would like to drag through Fallujah,
For me he searched all of Iraq,
When I was caught light became dark,
Oh, how I miss my good friend Jacques Chirac
B is for Brutal
U is for Unforgiving
S is for Sly
H is for Hairy
But enough about me.
I hate George Bush.
Update: I invite my readers to submit your own Saddam Hussein poems about Bush. The winning entry will receive what Saddam has always craved…glory!
Update: Michele has just informed me that Command Post also have their own poetry contest.
