Saddam, Poet Laureate of Iraq

When Depressed, Turn To The Pen

It's a little bit like the Angry Fat Man. Saddam is depressed and has turned to writing poetry once more.

Saddam Hussein spends his time in solitary confinement tending a garden, writing poetry and reading the Quran, according to reports Monday that described him as depressed and demoralized.

One of Saddam's poems is about George Bush, though it wasn't clear whether that referred to President Bush or his father, Saddam's foe in the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

The Guardian newspaper in Britain and Newsday in New York quoted Bakhtiar Amin, the human rights minister in the new Iraqi government, who said he visited Saddam's cell on Saturday. Amin said he did not speak to the former Iraqi leader.

Bakhtiar said Saddam appeared "in good health and being kept in good conditions," but he "appeared demoralized and dejected."

Saddam's air-conditioned cell in a U.S. military prison is 10 feet wide and 13 feet long and contained a fold-up bed, a table and a single light bulb, Amin said. Saddam is not allowed to mix with other prisoners.

"Mostly he reads the Quran today," Newsday quoted Amin as saying. "He feels more afraid for his life."

Amin had little to report on Saddam's poetry. "One of the poems is about George Bush, but I had no time to read it," Amin said.

He reported that Saddam, 67, was being treated for high blood pressure and a chronic prostate infection, has a hernia and was gaining weight after losing 11 pounds during a time when he resisted all fatty foods.

Saddam and other detainees get an MRE (meal ready to eat) breakfast, and hot food twice a day. Dessert might include oranges, apples, pears or plums, but Saddam also likes American muffins and cookies, Amin said.

Saddam is not allowed newspapers, TV or radio, but has access to 145 books — mostly travel books and novels — donated by the Red Cross.

I wonder what Saddam would make of 'Autumn of the Patriarch' by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Or for that matter, what Marquez makes of Saddam's poetry would be a great magazine piece. The world is an interesting place. Why are magazine editors so boring?