Book Review - Saddam's Secrets by Georges Sada with Jim Nelson Black
Category Book Reviews
On the day after Saddam Hussein was executed for war crimes, it seems fitting to post my review of the book Saddam's Secrets: How an Iraqi General Defied & Survived Saddam Hussein by Georges Sada with Jim Nelson Black. It's an interesting look inside Saddam's government leading up to the first Gulf War, and explains how Saddam's personal greed and lust for power led to his downfall.
Contents:
Part 1 - A World of Change; Saddam's Rise to Power; Betrayal and Revenge; A New Beginning
Part 2 - A Sudden Change of Plans; The Consequences of War; Damage Assessment; Beating the System
Part 3 - The War of Liberation; Insurgency and Survival; The Way Forward; A Time for Peace
Notes; Acknowledgments
General Georges Sada was a highly decorated fighter pilot and instructor in the Iraqi air force, and was part of Saddam Huissein's inner circle when it came to military advice. This is somewhat unusual in that Sada wasn't an Iraqi, but an Assyrian Christian who refused to join the Baathist party. Staying true to his beliefs and convictions, he refused to offer up advice based on what Saddam wanted to hear, but rather based on reality. Many others had been killed for doing just that, but by God's protection Sada was able to survive Saddam's wrath and Qusay's attempts to let him rot in jail. It's an amazing look at a powerful tyrant who relied on position and strength to enrich his own family and ignore the needs of his country.
Based on Sada's first-hand account of the events, it looks like Saddam came very close to carrying out a biological attack on Israel on one occasion. Saddam was also obsessed with acquiring nuclear weapons, and there's little doubt that he would have used them had it ever happened. Sada also talks about the missing weapons of mass destruction that were the reason for the second Gulf War. According to him, they were shipped over the borders to other countries. Which makes you wonder who owns them now...
While you may not agree with how Saddam's trial was carried out, there's no doubt that the blood of hundreds of thousands of people are on his hands. Saddam's Secrets shows just how evil the man was, and how the Middle East, and really the entire world, would have been incredibly unstable had he not been removed. Well worth reading...
On the day after Saddam Hussein was executed for war crimes, it seems fitting to post my review of the book Saddam's Secrets: How an Iraqi General Defied & Survived Saddam Hussein by Georges Sada with Jim Nelson Black. It's an interesting look inside Saddam's government leading up to the first Gulf War, and explains how Saddam's personal greed and lust for power led to his downfall.
Contents:
Part 1 - A World of Change; Saddam's Rise to Power; Betrayal and Revenge; A New Beginning
Part 2 - A Sudden Change of Plans; The Consequences of War; Damage Assessment; Beating the System
Part 3 - The War of Liberation; Insurgency and Survival; The Way Forward; A Time for Peace
Notes; Acknowledgments
General Georges Sada was a highly decorated fighter pilot and instructor in the Iraqi air force, and was part of Saddam Huissein's inner circle when it came to military advice. This is somewhat unusual in that Sada wasn't an Iraqi, but an Assyrian Christian who refused to join the Baathist party. Staying true to his beliefs and convictions, he refused to offer up advice based on what Saddam wanted to hear, but rather based on reality. Many others had been killed for doing just that, but by God's protection Sada was able to survive Saddam's wrath and Qusay's attempts to let him rot in jail. It's an amazing look at a powerful tyrant who relied on position and strength to enrich his own family and ignore the needs of his country.
Based on Sada's first-hand account of the events, it looks like Saddam came very close to carrying out a biological attack on Israel on one occasion. Saddam was also obsessed with acquiring nuclear weapons, and there's little doubt that he would have used them had it ever happened. Sada also talks about the missing weapons of mass destruction that were the reason for the second Gulf War. According to him, they were shipped over the borders to other countries. Which makes you wonder who owns them now...
While you may not agree with how Saddam's trial was carried out, there's no doubt that the blood of hundreds of thousands of people are on his hands. Saddam's Secrets shows just how evil the man was, and how the Middle East, and really the entire world, would have been incredibly unstable had he not been removed. Well worth reading...
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Comments
Posted by Rob McDonagh At 17:36:47 On 02/01/2007 | - Website - |
Posted by Tom At 09:02:43 On 31/12/2006 | - Website - |
I find it ironic that dictators seem to get the short end of the stick with their deaths. Saddam gets hung and buried the next day. Hitler committed suicide in a bunker. But look at the beautiful funerals of our leaders such as Reagan and Ford most recently. There's a stark contrast...
Anyway, I haven't seen the video. I don't really care to and I've seen enough on the news without having to see him drop. He's gone. Good riddens. Let's move on.
Happy New Year Tom!
Posted by Chris Whisonant At 06:40:21 On 01/01/2007 | - Website - |
Speaking of the Taliban, I heard a funny story from an Army buddy about another guy he knows who was in Afghanistan. This guy had gotten dysentery and was taking care of some business on a rock when a member of the Taliban came up to him. The soldier was waving his knife around until he could get his pistol out... Be all that you can be, right?
Posted by Chris Whisonant At 05:05:23 On 02/01/2007 | - Website - |
Posted by Chris Whisonant At 05:01:45 On 03/01/2007 | - Website - |
To clarify, though, I've supported the invasion from the very beginning. I don't like the *way* the war was sold to the American people, but I've said repeatedly and publicly on my blog that getting rid of Saddam was a worthwhile goal. My issue with the war at this point is that the occupation has been poorly executed and apparently not planned well (if at all), it doesn't seem like we have any idea how to get out, and it has distracted us from a more important target, the Taliban.
re: the trial itself, it wasn't terribly impressive, which is unfortunate. I'm not sure there was much hope for a perfect trial, but this one fell a bit shorter of the goal than I expected.
re: the book, I saw General Sada on Jon Stewart several months ago and he was pretty convincing. He definitely has an axe to grind, so a grain of salt (a touch of cynicism?) is probably advisable. But then that's true of every book on this subject, right? Heck, it's true of every book, period. If we don't pay attention to the underlying biases in what we read and watch, we are sure to be ill-informed.
Posted by Rob McDonagh At 08:05:17 On 01/01/2007 | - Website - |
Chemical and biological weapons have a shelf life. That means they were dangerous in 1991, but useless in 2003 even if Saddam hid them someplace.
Posted by Maury Hirschkorn At 04:26:45 On 14/02/2009 | - Website - |