Saddam the Gardener

Saddam Hussein’s American nurse, in an interview with his hometown paper, revealed what life was like for the former dictator during his last years. He would save scraps from his meals for birds, tend to a patch of weeds and once asked why the U.S. had invaded, saying: “The laws in Iraq were fair and the weapons inspectors didn’t find anything.”

BBC:

[Master Sgt. Robert] Ellis, from St. Louis, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Saddam Hussein was held in a six-foot by eight-foot cell with a cot, table, two plastic chairs and two wash basins.

When he was allowed to go outside, Saddam Hussein saved bread scraps from his meals to feed to the birds, Sgt. Ellis said.

The former leader also watered a patch of weeds.

“He said he was a farmer when he was young and he never forgot where he came from,” Sgt. Ellis said.

He said Saddam Hussein never gave him trouble and complained little.

“He had very good coping skills,” Sgt. Ellis said.

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