Only fifteen minutes into my vacation, but I can hardly resist posting this.
Saddam learned the names of the GIs guarding him, was interested in the details of their lives, which they were not supposed to discuss, and sometimes offered fatherly advice. They conversed in English.
O’Shea said when he told him he was not married, Saddam “started telling me what to do.” “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.'”
Then he smiled, made what O’Shea interpreted as a “spanking” gesture, laughed and went back to washing his clothes in the sink.
(Mark my words, there will soon be a recognized psychiatric diagnosis for the syndrome which forces people to think “blog this” whenever the read something interesting.)