An Unathorized Look at Saddam Hussein
Nov. 22, 2002 -- He is the dictator at the center of U.S. foreign policy. He is known to have used poison gas against villages in his own country. And he is suspected of having his own brother-in-law killed and ordering the deaths of his two sons-in-law.
But who is the man behind the name Saddam Hussein?
Saddam has not spoken to an American reporter in the 10 years since the Gulf War, but French filmmaker Joel Soler recently captured some of the dictator's personal reflections by spending two months in Iraq claiming to be making a film on local architecture. Instead, the one-hour film, Uncle Saddam, which airs November 26 at 7pm on Cinemax, reveals a man who seems to be preoccupied with … cleanliness.
‘A Sweet or Stinky Smell’
"It is not appropriate for someone to attend a gathering or to be with his children with his body odor trailing behind him, emitting a sweet or stinky smell mixed with perspiration," Saddam is shown saying to a village mayor.
"It's preferable to bathe twice a day, but at least once a day. And when the male bathes once a day, the female should bathe twice a day. The reason is that the female is more delicate and the smell of a woman is more noticeable than the male," the Iraqi president continues. "If a woman can't afford to brush her teeth with toothpaste and a toothbrush, she should use her finger."
Soler says Saddam's emphasis on cleanliness is based on fear of being contaminated by germs and an obsession with security.
"If you want to meet with Saddam Hussein, there are many protocols," says Al Attia, a former Iraqi government minister. "You have to be clean, to wash, because Saddam is scared to be contaminated by people."
For 15 years, Abbas Al Janabi was the personal secretary to Saddam's son. He says every time he met Saddam on official business, he went through the same routine.
"They take you to a shower," says Al Janabi, who fled Iraq two years ago. "You have to take a shower in front of the people who are responsible for his safety."
Palaces and Poverty
While he was in Iraq ostensibly making a film about architecture, Soler says he was able to catch a glimpse of the blueprints for Hussein's palaces, of which he is said to have between 21 and 46.
"The president likes traditional buildings that related or somehow mixed with modern architecture," one of Saddam's chief architects says in the film.
Soler says he has been told by the State Department that the architect, Hassam Khadori, has been poisoned since speaking with him. ABCNEWS has not been able to confirm this. Soler speculates that speaking about Saddam's palaces may have put Khadori's life in danger.
"You know, when men like Saddam kill his own son-in-law, his own brother-in-law, why not his architect?" says Soler.
And while Iraqis suffer tremendous poverty, the palaces are only a small part of Saddam's grandeur. Saddam is also building what is expected to be the largest mosque in the world. It will be shaped like an island and carry the contours of his thumbprint, according to the film.
"As far as I know, he never sleeps in a bed twice," says Al Janabi. "He has houses, he has small houses, he has ranches, he has orchards, he has towns … lots of places.
According to another defector, Saddam has three meals cooked every day in more than one palace — whether he's there or not. And when he travels, several units of security forces move in different directions so no one knows where he's going.
Since making Uncle Saddam, Soler says he has received a death threat and has found a kerosene bomb in his trash can.
"I know it's related to the movie. I don't know if it's the people from the Iraqi government or just people who want to scare me," says Soler, who now lives in California. "It's one thing to criticize Saddam policy. It's another thing to go really personal on Saddam."