Bob Woodward in the Sunday Times, on Saudi prince Bandar bin Sultan, and memories of Saddam:
According to Bandar, Saddam required his bodyguards to do two things to prove themselves: kill somebody else from within their own tribe and kill somebody from another tribe. So there would be a double vendetta.Bandar explained: “This is smart evil, because if you take the evil out of it, it makes sense. If I want to trust you with my life, I want to make sure nowhere else you are safe except with me.”
At another time Saddam pointed to the people around him – high and low – and told Fahd: “They are the most loyal to me.”
“It is nice to be surrounded by the most loyal people,” Fahd replied.
“Oh, no, no, I didn’t say that, Your Majesty,” Saddam corrected. “I told you they are very loyal to me because every one of them, his hand is bloody. Every one of them knows that when I die, you will never find a piece this big from my body.” Saddam indicated the smallest piece of flesh between his fingers. “I’ll be cut to pieces, and if that happens to me, they’re all finished.”
From his personal meetings with the Iraqi dictator, Bandar said, “The most amazing thing about Saddam is how confident he looks, how relaxed he looks, and how charming he is – and how deadly. And each of these attributes are clear and at the same time.”
Saddam could make his most senior generals shake, Bandar said. Once, while Bandar met Saddam in the 1980s when trying to broker an end to the Iran-Iraq war, Saddam told him: “Bandar, all those people are loyal to me. I know a man by looking into his eyes. I can tell you if he is loyal or not. And if his eyes start blinking, I know he is a traitor and then I exterminate him.”
Bandar said that Saddam was excited to show his power, and said it in such a gentle voice and in such a genteel manner that it took five seconds to realise he was serious.
“You are a man with presence,” Bandar told the Iraqi dictator. “I would not be surprised that some poor young officer or minister might panic, which is natural. Are you going to tell me you are going to kill somebody because he panicked only because he is in awe of you?”
“Ha, ha, ha, ha, HA!” Saddam replied with the most deadly laugh. He then tapped Bandar on the shoulder.
“I’d rather kill somebody, not sure if he is a traitor, than let one traitor get by.”
Of course, as Ming Campbell, Rory Bremner, Mark Steele, Malcolm Rifkind, Max Hastings, and all right thinking people know, It would be much better if Saddam were still runing the show.
Posted by: Bob-B | June 11, 2007 at 08:27 AM