The first volume of a trilogy of Saddam Hussein books written by the late dictator’s lawyer has generated controversy in Iraq. It’s unclear whether the Iraqi government will even allow “Saddam Hussein: From an American Cell. This Is What Happened” to be sold in the country.

The book makes some pretty outrageous claims, summarized by The New York Times below. But forget about the biography: We’re betting the planned volume of Saddam’s poetry is where the real action is at. — PZS

New York Times / At War:

In the excerpts, Mr. Hussein describes his arrest and plans for escape through a coordinated attack by a special rescue detail. He describes his American guards as having small weapons and asking for his autograph. “You can take their guns by slapping them in the face,” he tells Mr. Dulaimi [the author] in the book.

Elsewhere Mr. Dulaimi writes that Zionist American soldiers tied 39 knots in the noose from which Mr. Hussein was hanged, to symbolize the 39 scud missiles that landed in Tel Aviv in 1991, and claims that Iraqi guards severed Mr. Hussein’s head and paraded it around the city.

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