Interrogator of Saddam Hussein Reveals Untold Stories about Iraqi Dictator

John Nixon, the first CIA officer to interrogate Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein after his capture in December 2003, has revealed shocking facts about the deposed Iraqi leader that raise new questions about why the United States bothered to invade Iraq to oust him from power.

According to a report covered by ISNA in Farsi, “Debriefing the President: The Interrogation of Saddam Hussein” is the book written by CIA officer Nixon about his meetings with Saddam. Hussein was certainly a brutal dictator, but the man described by Nixon was not on a mission to blow up the world, as George W. Bush’s administration had claimed to justify the invasion.

Nixon was an analyst in Iraq when the United States military captured Hussein, and he was asked to identify him so the Americans could be certain they had the right man. Nixon confirmed Hussein’s identity by checking for a tribal tattoo on the back of his right hand and a scar from a 1959 bullet wound.

Regarding Iraq’s supposed weapons of mass destruction, the justification for the 2003 invasion, Hussein admits to Nixon that it was a mistake for him not to make clear before the war that he had long since gotten rid of them.

The findings from Nixon’s interrogations of Hussein that cast doubt on the Bush administration’s original justifications for the war, Nixon says, were ignored by senior officials at the CIA and the White House. “The policy makers at the White House and the leadership on the seventh floor at the CIA didn’t want to hear that many of the reasons for going after Saddam were based on false premises,” he writes.

“I asked about the CIA’s belief that Saddam suffered great pain from a bad back and had given up red meat and cigars. He said he didn’t know where I was getting my intelligence, but it was wrong. He told me he smoked four cigars every day and loved red meat. He was also surprisingly fit.”

IFP Editorial Staff

The IFP Editorial Staff is composed of dozens of skilled journalists, news-writers, and analysts whose works are edited and published by experienced editors specialized in Iran News. The editor of each IFP Service is responsible for the report published by the Iran Front Page (IFP) news website, and can be contacted through the ways mentioned in the "IFP Editorial Staff" section.

Recent Posts

“Iran Hamdel” campaign sends aid to Gaza amid war

Aid items donated by millions of Iranians within a national campaign, have reached the beseiged…

6 hours ago

Iranian deputy FM: Cooperation with Saudis serves as a successful model for fostering peace and security

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht Ravanchi has said Iran and Saudi Arabia are committed…

6 hours ago

Official: Iran responds to IAEA resolution with increased nuclear enrichment capacity

Behrouz Kamalvandi, the spokesperson for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), says the organization…

7 hours ago

Pictures: Demonstrators in Tehran support people of Gaza, Lebanon

Hundreds of people gathered in Tehran on Friday morning in front of the United Nations…

7 hours ago

Int’l lawyer: US plans to sanction countries cooperating with ICC on Netanyahu arrest

An international law expert and analyst has revealed the U.S. plans to impose punitive measures…

10 hours ago

Minister of science: 25% of Iranian university professors emigrated due to economic challenges

Iran’s Minister of Science, Research, and Technology, Hossein Simayee Saraf, addressed on Thursday academic migration…

10 hours ago