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Adventurer
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
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 Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 5:32 am Post subject: Military nurse recalls softer Saddam |
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ST. LOUIS - A military nurse who cared for Saddam Hussein in jail said the deposed dictator saved bread crusts to feed birds and seldom complained to his captors, except when he had legitimate gripes.
Master Sgt. Robert Ellis cared for the former Iraqi dictator from January 2004 until August 2005 at Camp Cropper, the compound near Baghdad where Saddam and other "high value detainees" were held.
Ellis checked on Saddam twice a day and wrote a daily report on Saddam's physical and emotional condition.
Saddam told Ellis that cigars and coffee kept his blood pressure down, and it seemed to work. Saddam would insist that Ellis smoke with him.
Ellis said Saddam did not complain much, and, when he did, his complaint was usually legitimate. "He had very good coping skills," Ellis said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070101/ap_on_re_us/saddam_nurse
[Bizarre, eh? I do like that he liked feeding birds and smoking Cuban cigars. I am sure he was grateful to be under American custody rather than under the Shiites.] |
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nobbyken
Joined: 07 Jun 2006
Location: Yongin ^^
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| Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 6:53 am Post subject: |
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After seeing him on TV several times in his court appearances, I didn't really see an evil dictator, but a confused and demoralised man with an air of hopelessness.
I was sorry about the way his life ended. |
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NAVFC
Joined: 10 May 2006
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| Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 1:38 pm Post subject: |
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He was still an Evil dictator nonetheless. Infact the pentagon is now in the process of declassifying videos found in Iraqi archives, mny of them of Saddam's men torturing people.
Saddam was not just some poor misunderstood soul! He was a evil man who had justice done to him. Period.
When did Saddam learn english by the way?
Also laws in Iraq fair? That man was a brutal tyrant. Opressed the Shiites and elevated the Sunnis.
GRRR I hate it when people try to play apologetics for such evil tyrants.
It's sick. When tyrants are brought down like this the world needs to know how evil they were and things they did so history doesn't repeat. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 4:16 pm Post subject: |
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| While its mildly interesting that he fed bread crumbs to birds and didn't whine a lot, it doesn't balance out his viciousness. No one is 100% evil. |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 5:07 pm Post subject: |
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Could a softer Saddam have ruled the bitterly divisive region known as Iraq?
He ruled with an iron hand. Too hard surely. But far from evil. Especially compared to what other rulers have done.
The CIA preferred assassination to dispose one dictator for another more U.S.-friendly one. It certainly would have avoided te hell that is Iraq today.
Is there a happy medium? Could Iraq have continued to exist without either a bloody tyrant or a civil war? The truth is it's always been a nation in name only.
If Saddam Hussein had just kept being an ally to the U.S. then he wouldn't be villified by the world today. Sad but true. The man is dead. But all those who sustained his position of leadership are still walking around pointing fingers and waging war.
The whole situation is absurd. |
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NAVFC
Joined: 10 May 2006
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| Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 6:20 pm Post subject: |
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| VanIslander wrote: |
Could a softer Saddam have ruled the bitterly divisive region known as Iraq?
He ruled with an iron hand. Too hard surely. But far from evil. Especially compared to what other rulers have done.
The CIA preferred assassination to dispose one dictator for another more U.S.-friendly one. It certainly would have avoided te hell that is Iraq today.
Is there a happy medium? Could Iraq have continued to exist without either a bloody tyrant or a civil war? The truth is it's always been a nation in name only.
If Saddam Hussein had just kept being an ally to the U.S. then he wouldn't be villified by the world today. Sad but true. The man is dead. But all those who sustained his position of leadership are still walking around pointing fingers and waging war.
The whole situation is absurd. |
Van I don't know what sick messed up world you come from, but in my world murdering men women and children is Evil. Torturing men women and children is evil. Genocide is evil. Crimes against humanity, evil.
Saddam was evil. |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 6:39 pm Post subject: |
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| NAVFC wrote: |
| Van I don't know what sick messed up world you come from, but in my world... Torturing.. is evil... Crimes against humanity, evil. |
Then you see evil everywhere you look. Especially by American government agencies, China, etc.
Maybe you don't mean much by "evil" other than "I know is very bad".
A man who enjoys tearing wings off of flies is "evil" as is a man who rules with bloody hands out of a sense of necessity. Yes? No?
Jeffrey Dahmer was one kind of evil, Saddam Hussein was another kind of evil, George W. Bush has been another kind of evil, yadda yadda yadda.
Last edited by VanIslander on Mon Jan 01, 2007 6:42 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Junior
Joined: 18 Nov 2005
Location: the eye
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| Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 6:42 pm Post subject: |
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| NAVFC wrote: |
Saddam was evil. |
He was distanced from the reality of his dictates.
The guys who carried out his orders, his torture..with their own bare hands...how evil were they?
Some cultures don't know any better. we're used to democracy. they're not.
In Saddams mind and by his culture... he had noble intentions. "I fought the infidels and the persians". |
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NAVFC
Joined: 10 May 2006
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| Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 6:44 pm Post subject: |
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| VanIslander wrote: |
| NAVFC wrote: |
| Van I don't know what sick messed up world you come from, but in my world... Torturing.. is evil... Crimes against humanity, evil. |
Then you see evil everywhere you look. Especially by American government agencies, China, etc.
Maybe you don't mean much by "evil" other than "I know is very bad".
A man who enjoys tearing wings off of flies is "evil" as is a man who rules with bloody hands out of a sense of necessity. Yes? No?
Jeffrey Dahmer was one kind of evil, Saddam Hussein was another kind of evil, George W. Bush has been another kind of evil, yadda yadda yadda. |
You can not compare theUS Government to Saddam. The two are nothing alike.
You are another one of those Anti-US kooks. |
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NAVFC
Joined: 10 May 2006
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| Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 6:46 pm Post subject: |
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| Junior wrote: |
| NAVFC wrote: |
Saddam was evil. |
He was distanced from the reality of his dictates.
The guys who carried out his orders, his torture..with their own bare hands...how evil were they?
Some cultures don't know any better. we're used to democracy. they're not.
In Saddams mind and by his culture... he had noble intentions. "I fought the infidels and the persians". |
So? As was Hitler but he was evil too. As was Saddam. How can anyone defend him like this?.
Oh and all actuality Saddam wasn't always distance. Acounts now say on some instances he was around to witness his handi-work. |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 6:49 pm Post subject: |
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| NAVFC wrote: |
| You are another one of those Anti-US kooks. |
Torture and crimes against humanity are evil you said.
This is not a pro-America, anti-America issue. Those who try to make it so are the true kooks, if by kooks you mean crazy off-kiltered radicals.
The world is going mad. |
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supernick
Joined: 24 Jan 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 6:50 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Van I don't know what sick messed up world you come from, but in my world murdering men women and children is Evil. Torturing men women and children is evil. Genocide is evil. Crimes against humanity, evil. |
From you comments, then I guess you support the execution of the leaders of the countries that invaded Iraq, as much of what you mentioned above have been acts committed by the O/F. Let's also keep in mind that the gasing of Kurds was first done by the British under order from Churchill.
If the U.S. and other countries came to the aid of the Iraqis during the crimes that you have mentioned, your comments could have more credence, however during those days Saddam was supported in some ways by the U.S.
I have no problem with the hanging of Saddam, just as long as the same justice is served to Bush and Blair.
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WWiraq.htm
Iraq (Mesopotamia) is the land which lies between the rivers Euphrates and Tigres in the Middle East. The area was devastated by the Mongols in the 15th century and in 1638 became part of the Turkish Ottoman Empire.
During the First World War people from Iraq served with the Turkish Army. In 1916, important figures such as Faisal ibn Ali and Nuri es-Said changed sides and began working closely with T. E. Lawrence. Faisal ibn Ali became the leading Arab military commander and led the troops into Damascus on 3rd October 1918.
After the war the country was occupied by the British Army. In 1920 the League of Nations granted Britain a mandate to control the area. Britain provided Iraq with a constitution and arranged for Faisal ibn Ali, the son of Sharif Husain of Mecca, to become king of Iraq.
Winston Churchill, Minister of War and Air, estimated that around 25,000 British and 80,000 Indian troops would be needed to control Iraq. However, he argued that if Britain relied on air power, you could cut these numbers to 4,000 (British) and 10,000 (Indian). The government was convinced by this argument and it was decided to send the recently formed Royal Air Force to Iraq.
An uprising of more than 100,000 armed tribesmen took place in 1920. Over the next few months the RAF dropped 97 tons of bombs killing 9,000 Iraqis. This failed to end the resistance and Arab and Kurdish uprisings continued to pose a threat to British rule. Churchill suggested that chemical weapons should be used "against recalcitrant Arabs as an experiment." He added "I am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes to spread a lively terror" in Iraq.
In 1923 Squadron Leader Arthur Harris took command of 45 Squadron. He decided to use gas attacks and delayed action bombs on the Iraqi tribes. One RAF officer, Air Commodore Lional Charlton, resigned in 1924 after visiting a hospital that contained civilian victims of these air raids. However, Harris disagreed and remarked "the only thing the Arab understands is the heavy hand |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 6:54 pm Post subject: |
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| supernick wrote: |
| ..the gasing of Kurds was first done by the British under order from Churchill... I have no problem with the hanging of Saddam, just as long as the same justice is served to Bush and Blair. |
One has to be half-blind morally to dish off "evil" epitaphs to guys like Saddam Hussein and not to other world leaders who have condoned and even ordered torture, killings and crimes against humanity. That's my point.
(I'll leave this thread now to those who go on ad infinitum about such matters.) |
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supernick
Joined: 24 Jan 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 7:01 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| One has to be half-blind morally to dish off "evil" epitaphs to guys like Saddam Hussein and not to other world leaders who have condoned and even ordered torture, killings and crimes against humanity. That's my point. |
Exactly. The big difference is is that some "evil" persons have been supported by the people who elected them. Not once but twice. |
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NAVFC
Joined: 10 May 2006
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| Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 7:35 pm Post subject: |
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BS. Can anyone here actually prove Bush or Blair ordered something thatwas committed crimes against humanity? And not just some conspriacy nuts theory?NO YOU CANT. But how ever the world witnessessed Saddam's tyranny. You can not compare Saddam to any US adminstration accurately.
Bush never ordered anyones family raped, or rodered that someones fingers be chopped off,or usedelectrical shocks to the testicals to extra information, or killed a persons family ,including children just to hurt the person who angered him. You people are out there if youthink you can compare the two. |
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