Saddam Hussein's FBI interview transcripts online

Friday, 03 July 2009 14:41

Transcripts of the FBI’s interviews with the former Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein, following his capture by invading US Forces, have been released under a Freedom of Information request and uploaded on the US National Security Archive website.

Among interesting disclosures from the transcripts, led by George L. Piro, one of an exceedingly small number of FBI agents who spoke Arabic, is this:

‘During the interviews Piro…asserts with confidence that the U.S. side had information that Iraq was maintaining or developing a WMD capability and cites “evidence” of continuing contact between Iran and al-Qaeda, seemingly implying an operational relationship.

‘Saddam does not provide comfort to his interlocutors on these matters, refuting any notion of collaboration with al-Qaeda, or of a remaining WMD capacity, and in reality the charges, meant to win public support for the invasion of Iraq, were collapsing while the interviews were underway. Investigators from the CIA, operating freely in occupied Iraq, failed to uncover any credible supporting evidence for the U.S. claims, and ultimately President Bush himself acknowledged that “most of the intelligence turned out to be wrong.”’

You can read all 20 formal interview transcripts, and 5 'casual conversations' transcripts here.

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