Grinder
15 December 2003, 12:56
By John D. Banusiewicz
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2003 - Saddam Hussein has been compliant since he was
captured Dec. 13, but so far is not cooperating, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld [http://www.dod.mil/bios/rumsfeld.html] told
Lesley Stahl on the CBS News program "60 Minutes" Dec. 14.
"He has not been cooperative in terms of talking, or anything like that,"
Rumsfeld said. "He clearly was compliant or resigned, in effect, as he was
being examined and as he was being transferred from the hole to the transport
that took him away, but I think . it's a bit early to try and characterize his
demeanor beyond that."
Saddam, who had exhorted his followers to fight to the death both before and
after the war that removed him from power, seemed "not terribly brave" when
confronted by American soldiers as he hid in a 6-by-8-foot hole, the defense
secretary said.
"In fact, he wasn't very tough," Rumsfeld said. "He was cowering in a hole in
the ground, and had a pistol, but didn't use it, and certainly didn't put up
any fight at all."
The secretary said the deposed Iraqi dictator is being treated "in a humane and
professional way," with the same protections provided to prisoners of war in
accordance with the Geneva Conventions, though it's not clear yet whether he
technically is a prisoner of war. He's being held at an undisclosed location
"for obvious reasons," he added.
Should Saddam offer to provide information in exchange for his life being
spared, it would have to be a matter of discussion for the coalition "at a very
high level" with lawyers involved, Rumsfeld said. He cautioned against "snap
decisions" about what might be done, but added, "In the last analysis, here's a
man who has killed so many tens of thousands of people who will have to be held
accountable and brought to justice in some form, in some way."
Rumsfeld was emphatic that Saddam would not be tortured. "We don't torture
people," he said. "To suggest that anyone would be engaged in torture or
conduct inconsistent with the Geneva Conventions, it seems to me, is not on the
mark at all."
The secretary said that to his knowledge, reports that Iran was involved in
Saddam's capture are untrue. "The reason he was finally captured was because
some wonderful young men and women in uniform have been over there for seven or
eight months, and they have been doing a wonderful job for our country and for
the Iraqi people in helping to set that country on a path," he said.
"And they have developed an ability to deal with a high-value target like
Saddam Hussein (and) to do it in a time-sensitive way," he continued. "And when
the intelligence was gathered and analyzed (and) brought together over a period
of some hours and days, they were able to then move very rapidly and very
skillfully and very professionally and capture that individual."
Saddam had "very inflated views of himself and his role in the world" when he
was in power, the secretary said. "And to have him go out the way he is going
out - with a whimper - it seems to me deflates those that would have wanted to
support that approach to the world.
"And it allows the people who believe in freedom and believe in liberty and
want to have respect for the various religions and ethnic groups in that
country and that region . to be more confident about their future, and more
optimistic," he said.
Rumsfeld said the facts on the ground were the determining factor in why the
dictator was captured alive, rather than killed. "Our policy is that we try to
capture, and not kill," he said. "And if we're not able to capture and we can
kill, we do it."
The secretary said that although the man soldiers found hiding in the hole near
Tikrit looked like Saddam Hussein and had a bullet hole in his leg and tattoos
that Saddam was known to have, firm conclusions weren't made at first, and he
warned President Bush when informing him of the capture that early reports
often are incorrect.
"I was more interested in the fact that we found a sizeable amount of money,"
Rumsfeld said, "because we know that Saddam Hussein had doubles, and we know
that they used plastic surgery, so they could very easily have put the tattoos
and the bullet hole when they were doing the facial surgery." He said the large
amount of money found at the scene - some $750,000 U.S. $100 bills -- and
positive identification by some of Saddam's former cabinet members in custody
made it clear the captured man was, indeed, the former Iraqi dictator.
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2003 - Saddam Hussein has been compliant since he was
captured Dec. 13, but so far is not cooperating, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld [http://www.dod.mil/bios/rumsfeld.html] told
Lesley Stahl on the CBS News program "60 Minutes" Dec. 14.
"He has not been cooperative in terms of talking, or anything like that,"
Rumsfeld said. "He clearly was compliant or resigned, in effect, as he was
being examined and as he was being transferred from the hole to the transport
that took him away, but I think . it's a bit early to try and characterize his
demeanor beyond that."
Saddam, who had exhorted his followers to fight to the death both before and
after the war that removed him from power, seemed "not terribly brave" when
confronted by American soldiers as he hid in a 6-by-8-foot hole, the defense
secretary said.
"In fact, he wasn't very tough," Rumsfeld said. "He was cowering in a hole in
the ground, and had a pistol, but didn't use it, and certainly didn't put up
any fight at all."
The secretary said the deposed Iraqi dictator is being treated "in a humane and
professional way," with the same protections provided to prisoners of war in
accordance with the Geneva Conventions, though it's not clear yet whether he
technically is a prisoner of war. He's being held at an undisclosed location
"for obvious reasons," he added.
Should Saddam offer to provide information in exchange for his life being
spared, it would have to be a matter of discussion for the coalition "at a very
high level" with lawyers involved, Rumsfeld said. He cautioned against "snap
decisions" about what might be done, but added, "In the last analysis, here's a
man who has killed so many tens of thousands of people who will have to be held
accountable and brought to justice in some form, in some way."
Rumsfeld was emphatic that Saddam would not be tortured. "We don't torture
people," he said. "To suggest that anyone would be engaged in torture or
conduct inconsistent with the Geneva Conventions, it seems to me, is not on the
mark at all."
The secretary said that to his knowledge, reports that Iran was involved in
Saddam's capture are untrue. "The reason he was finally captured was because
some wonderful young men and women in uniform have been over there for seven or
eight months, and they have been doing a wonderful job for our country and for
the Iraqi people in helping to set that country on a path," he said.
"And they have developed an ability to deal with a high-value target like
Saddam Hussein (and) to do it in a time-sensitive way," he continued. "And when
the intelligence was gathered and analyzed (and) brought together over a period
of some hours and days, they were able to then move very rapidly and very
skillfully and very professionally and capture that individual."
Saddam had "very inflated views of himself and his role in the world" when he
was in power, the secretary said. "And to have him go out the way he is going
out - with a whimper - it seems to me deflates those that would have wanted to
support that approach to the world.
"And it allows the people who believe in freedom and believe in liberty and
want to have respect for the various religions and ethnic groups in that
country and that region . to be more confident about their future, and more
optimistic," he said.
Rumsfeld said the facts on the ground were the determining factor in why the
dictator was captured alive, rather than killed. "Our policy is that we try to
capture, and not kill," he said. "And if we're not able to capture and we can
kill, we do it."
The secretary said that although the man soldiers found hiding in the hole near
Tikrit looked like Saddam Hussein and had a bullet hole in his leg and tattoos
that Saddam was known to have, firm conclusions weren't made at first, and he
warned President Bush when informing him of the capture that early reports
often are incorrect.
"I was more interested in the fact that we found a sizeable amount of money,"
Rumsfeld said, "because we know that Saddam Hussein had doubles, and we know
that they used plastic surgery, so they could very easily have put the tattoos
and the bullet hole when they were doing the facial surgery." He said the large
amount of money found at the scene - some $750,000 U.S. $100 bills -- and
positive identification by some of Saddam's former cabinet members in custody
made it clear the captured man was, indeed, the former Iraqi dictator.