New York – Saddam Hussein loves Doritos, hates Froot Loops, admires President Rea gan, thinks Bill Clinton was “OK” and considers both Presidents Bush “no good.” He talks a lot, worries about germs and insists he is still president of Iraq.
Those and other details of the deposed Iraqi leader’s life in U.S. custody appear in the July issue of GQ magazine, based on interviews with five Pennsylvania National Guardsmen who went to Iraq in 2003 and were assigned to Hussein’s guard detail for nearly 10 months.
The five told GQ of their personal interactions with Hussein, saying he spoke with them in rough English, was interested in their lives and even invited them back to Iraq when he returns to power.
“He’d always tell us he was still the president. That’s what he thinks, 100 percent,” said Spec. Jesse Dawson, 25, of Berwick, Pa.
A Pentagon spokesman had no comment on the article.
The GIs recalled that Hussein had harsh words for the Bushes, each of whom went to war against him.
“The Bush father, son, no good,” Cpl. Jonathan “Paco” Reese, 22, of Millville, Pa., quoted Hussein as saying.
Hussein was friendly toward his young guards and sometimes offered fatherly advice. When Spec. Sean O’Shea told him he was not married, Hussein “started telling me what to do,” recalled the soldier.
“He was like, ‘You gotta find a good woman. Not too smart, not too dumb. Not too old, not too young. One that can cook and clean.”‘
The soldiers also said Hussein was a “clean freak” who washed after shaking hands.
