Diaries show Saddam feared getting AIDS in prison

Diaries show Saddam feared getting AIDS in prison
Published: 5/5/08, 6:25 PM EDT
By SALAH NASRAWI

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Saddam Hussein feared catching AIDS or other diseases during his U.S.-supervised captivity, a leading Arab newspaper said Monday in publishing excerpts of his prison writings.

The London-based Al-Hayat said the comments came in portions of Saddam's prison diaries that it obtained from U.S. authorities. The U.S. military confirmed some of the late Iraqi leader's writings had been released.

When Saddam found out his U.S. military guards were also using his laundry line to dry clothes, he wrote that he demanded they stop, according to the excerpts.

"I explained to them that they are young and they could have young people's diseases," Saddam wrote. "My main concern was to not catch a venereal disease, an HIV disease, in this place." He said some soldiers ignored his request.

A U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, Maj. Matthew Morgan, declined to describe the writings as a formal diary, but said the former Iraqi president produced thousands of pages of writing while in custody.

http://my.att.net/s/editorial.dll?bfromind=2753&eeid=5857826&_sitecat=1505&dcatid=0&eetype=article&render=y&ac=-2&ck=&ch=ne

Anyone who'd believe that those "writings of Saddam Hussein" are genuine has lapped too long in the KoolAid toilet.

Why worry what disease you caught just before you were put to death? That's like the guy who appealed his death sentence because he was ill.

I think this just shows how detached from reality he was.

I still don't think we should have killed him though.