Army nurse remembers warm, gentle, modest fascist tyrant
posted at 12:43 pm on January 1, 2007 by Allahpundit
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Read no further if you’re feeling queasy this morning.
“Saddam was gangsta’,” he said, brutal and tough. But Ellis had seen another side of the former dictator and knew him in a way few others could…
Saddam told Ellis that smoking cigars and coffee kept his blood pressure down, and it seemed to work. Saddam would insist that Ellis smoke with him.
At one point, Saddam went on a hunger strike, refusing to eat when the guards would slide food through the slot on the bottom of his door. But when they changed tactics and opened the door, he started eating again.
“He refused to be fed like a lion,” Ellis said.
For a while, when he was allowed short visits outside, Saddam would feed the birds bread saved from his meals. He also watered a dusty plot of weeds.
“He said he was a farmer when he was young and he never forgot where he came from,” Ellis said…
Saddam never gave Ellis trouble. He didn’t complain much, and if he did it was usually legitimate.
“He had very good coping skills,” Ellis added.
Saddam also talked to him about happier times when his children were young: how he told them bedtime stories and how he would give his daughter half a Tums when she complained of a tummy ache.
After Ellis got an emergency call from America that his brother was dying, he told Saddam he was leaving immediately. Before he left, Saddam hugged him and said he would be his brother.
Here’s the point where I had to run to the bowl:
“He said everything he did was for Iraq,” Ellis said. “One day when I went to see him, he asked why we invaded. Well, he made gestures like shooting a machine gun and asked why soldiers came and shot up the place. He said the laws in Iraq were fair and the weapons inspectors didn’t find anything.
“I said, ‘That’s politics. We soldiers don’t get caught up in that sort of thing.’”
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Well most of those in the medical corps or the jag corp for that matter really are separate from the rest of the military. They constantly say that as well themselves and had one tell me the other day that he was glad he wasn’t “a ground pounder” and was thankful he had the “brains to not be one”. Of course the US taxpayers paid for his schooling at Bethesda but that’s another story all together. Sure, they have their own little balls & once in a while they are assigned to units and have to do the tour the unit does but for the most part their tours are 6 months. Not to take away from the spectacular job they do in saving lives but the Doc I had to see for a broken leg did nothing but whine about his “tour” of six months.
Anyway, most of the libs in the military are in the medical corps not the regular forces. So, that is why we have the troll Honora giving us her liberal wisdom all the time while saying her husband was in the military as a doctor for whatever years. They are a different bunch then the regular forces across the board.
Catie96706 on January 1, 2007 at 1:01 PM
What did you expect him to say? He was a military medical personel, charged with keeping Saddam alive and healthy. Would it have helped his job of keeping him alive by antagonizing him? Arguing with him?
Saddams executioners had the job of executing him. His military medical specialists had the job of keeping him alive and healthy and cooperative. A review of the actions of those executioners leaves me with no doubt in my mind as to who acted in the most professional manner.
EFG on January 1, 2007 at 1:02 PM
Yeah, nevermind the Kurds. Those mass graves … those are a figment of your imagination.
One Angry Christian on January 1, 2007 at 1:10 PM
Well, I brought in the new year with my kids last night…so I was fine, until I read this.
Now I think I’ll drive the porcelain bus…
Joe on January 1, 2007 at 1:14 PM
How about not dignifying it with a response?
Allahpundit on January 1, 2007 at 1:18 PM
I see your point, but actually, his response, from a military standpoint, is pretty much a non-response. Any time something controversal comes up that has political overtones, can be expected to receive this sort of reply.
Again, the question comes up. Would not have responding to him have helped him in keeping him alive and healthy and cooperative? Yes, not dignifying it with a response is one possibility, and it would make us feel better, but on the other hand, if your patients get the feeling that you are ignoring them when they are talking to you, that doesn’t help the patient/medic relationship.
He wasn’t there to make us feel good about invading Iraq and getting rid of Saddam. His job was to keep him alive and healthy and cooperative up until the point we could turn him over to his executioners.
Mission Accomplished.
EFG on January 1, 2007 at 1:27 PM
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or a medic, so this is just my amateur opinion. But Stashiu, the guy who Patterico interviewed about Gitmo detainees, is a military medical professional. I would be very interested in hearing his thoughts on this issue.
EFG on January 1, 2007 at 1:31 PM
Well, you know… maybe Saddam really doesn’t know why we invaded… I mean he thought he could beat the US military with his “Special” Republican Guard, he’s gotta be a very special kind of stupid.
I love this part:
Maybe we should look harder. If he really didn’t have any, he would have said so, not just that we didn’t find any.
Man! He could have made a fortune running a shell game on some big city street… he really missed his true calling in life. He’d still be able to screw Americans, but then again he wouldn’t be able to commit as much genocide and I guess you gotta do what you love.
Decoy256 on January 1, 2007 at 1:47 PM
Yeah, he was “gangsta” all right and he died like one too. At the direction of the state. As both an Air Force veteran and as an active member of the Army, I can understand how this guy could come off sounding almost sympathetic. His job is to care as opposed to the fact that almost all other military jobs are geared toward killing. I would rather have a sympathetic medical person than one who is somewhat indifferent to death. Wouldn’t you? Don’t blame this guy for doing his job.
Guardian on January 1, 2007 at 1:56 PM
He did the best job. As a doctor in training, Our aim is to help or patients in all aspects till they leave our sight. If you wanted him to behave like the Palestinian doctor in Sweden, I would not stop you. Such relationship helps us to offer the best treatment.
Everybody does not think like you guys: speaking death to power.
Ouabam on January 1, 2007 at 1:58 PM
Charisma: The ability to be a complete a-hole, lie to people’s faces, and have them love you for it.
Charisma: Some have it and some don’t. I ain’t got it but Saddam had it.
So does Bill Clinton. So did Ted Bundy.
And Stalin.
And Mao.
And this Austrian that led Germany in the last century.
ScottMcC on January 1, 2007 at 2:07 PM
Yeah… I don’t really find any fault with the nurse… he was in a tough position.
If I were the nurse, I wouldn’t want to get into ANY kind of discussion with the man, least of all a discussion about why we decided to take him out of power. The part that made me want to run for the bowl was Saddam try to rationalize himself to this nurse. Saddam was desperate to have someone look fondly upon his memory. I feel only relief at his passing.
Decoy256 on January 1, 2007 at 2:10 PM
Why did the nurse ask such a question? What did he wish to accomplish? Get him to confess. I just laughing.
As ScottMcC said,it is T
The nurse to me is stupid.
He asked a political question. He got a political answer.
He should have answered, “So, it is bad to invade Iraq. Look at what they did to you.” I love such response that is packaged with scorn and sarcasm.
Ouabam on January 1, 2007 at 2:25 PM
You have to feel for the nurse guy though right? I mean, what a detail, having to keep Hussein alive and well, and if not happy, cooperative anyhow. The hunger strike is a good illustration. I mean, your gut instinct is to feed the dog through a whole under the door like he was plague ridden and contagious. But if that jeopardizes his life, you have to treat him like you would any other human being. Buckley once said, when talking about executing drug dealers that, and I paraphrase, ‘my instincts would have me do it, but my instincts are reprehensible’.
ScottMcC, do you realize that you just compared Bill Clinton to Hussein, Hitler, Mao, Stalin and Ted Bundy?
THeDRiFTeR on January 1, 2007 at 2:28 PM
I’ll toss in Reagan and JFK. They too had charisma. Your point?
Pablo on January 1, 2007 at 2:50 PM
I still think they should have dropped a grenade in that spider hole and called it good.
One Angry Christian on January 1, 2007 at 3:15 PM
AP, a question from personal interest: Where was the picture taken of the person with the baby?
Sorry if it’s a popular picture that had broad exposure. I’m still trying to wake up from last night/this morning…
ricer1 on January 1, 2007 at 3:45 PM
Too harsh on Ellis IMO. From the article:
The article seemed tailored to make uncle Saddam seem a more pitiable figure, but sounds like Ellis was trying to do his job. I also distinctly remember Hannity talking to a soldier who was assigned to guard him. The guard said something along the lines of “I shook his hand” and went on to talk about how crazy that felt to do it once he looked back on it.
Dash on January 1, 2007 at 3:45 PM
I believe that is a Kurdish woman and her kid after the chemical warhead shellings in the north.
I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure that’s the story that I’ve seen the picture attatched to.
One Angry Christian on January 1, 2007 at 3:49 PM
Kinda agree with you. If I was Ellis, my response would probably have been the same. Or do we have to be nasty people all the time? Not me, thanks.
You also won’t ever see me gloating and joking about the execution.
MoonbatMedia on January 1, 2007 at 3:55 PM
somebody gag me
I know you don’t speak ill about the dead but come on; the revisionism fairy keeps popping up for demons like Saddam
Defector01 on January 1, 2007 at 3:56 PM
F*ck Saddam. I’ll reserve my sympathy for his millions of victims. You know, the people that those rushing to eulogize him couldn’t give a rat’s ass about.
ReubenJCogburn on January 1, 2007 at 4:15 PM
On the other thread you stated that you are 19 years old. Quite young for a “doctor in training”. Oops!
We have got Doogie Howser with us. Everyone one say Hi to Doogie.
right2bright on January 1, 2007 at 4:23 PM
That picture is of the Kurds in the north that Saddam had gassed.
Anytime someone brings up why Saddam had to be taken out of power and out of this world, just show them that pic.
Rest in pieces, you bastard.
Lonevoice on January 1, 2007 at 4:28 PM
Saddam cannot receive or appreciate sympathy — he is dead. He can also not be bothered about people mocking him in death because he is not there anymore.
The people I have sympathy for are those who gloat in others’ death, even if they were enemies or evil people.
MoonbatMedia on January 1, 2007 at 4:32 PM
That’s rather big of you I guess. I don’t share that sentiment. I understand and respect it, but I don’t share it.
Personally, I think people who use the deaths of hundreds of thousands to boost their own ego deserve to suffer humiliation and degredation at the hands of their enemies. I’m all for laughing at his pain.
I don’t think people like Saddam, Hitler, and the like deserve to be treated with dignity or respect. The moment this nation started “respecting” those sorts of people was the moment we opened the door to tragedy. I don’t care what anyone says about “stooping to their level”. That’s a bunch of huggy squishy feel good non functional crap.
It’s not stooping to a lying cowardly genocidal maniacs level to laugh as you drop his flopping body from the gallows.
It’s justice. It’s well deserved. It’s expressing the joy one should feel when evil is rightly destroyed. It’s mocking the ego of someone whose worst fear is losing control and perishing at the hands of those he sought to wipe out.
It is putting evil in it’s place.
I cheered when I heard. I laughed at his fear, this man who murdered millions, and called our troops cowards. I only wish I could have been there to kick him in the face before and after he fell.
Dignity? Leave that for those who perservered his murderous reign. Dignity is what those who stood up to him demonstrated. It’s not something that he deserves. Let the hippys and the so-called peace protestors who were so obviously missing while he was wiping out hundreds of thousands of his own people keep that squishy pseudo intellectual ideology that we should treat evil with dignity.
It doesn’t function in the real world out side of leaving room for evil to grow, prosper, and take control.
One Angry Christian on January 1, 2007 at 4:32 PM
Hey, uhhh…bite me.
armylawyer on January 1, 2007 at 4:45 PM
Yeah and Hitler made home movies of his kids.
- The Cat
MirCat on January 1, 2007 at 4:53 PM
One reason why I would like the West to be preserved, is because we pride ourselves on our humanity, dignity, and basic respect for human life. These values don’t only hold true for our friends — it transcends such barriers.
There is a vast difference in rejoicing in justice, and being bloodthirsty by actually enjoying things like turture, killing, etc, of our enemies. If they are destroyed, then good. It’s over. If we now enjoy pain, suffering, and humiliation of someone in death, where are we different from the uncivilized world? Is there any point anymore? Which values do we want to show to the rest of the world? Impose on them?
MoonbatMedia on January 1, 2007 at 5:01 PM
Give up on the weapons tirade. Just give up.
The only way classified info gets leaked is the NY Times, and they won’t leak it if it helps the US.
Kill it and move to the next.
Ringmaster on January 1, 2007 at 5:05 PM
I recall that one of the freedom fighters called me immature and ninteen year old.
I glady accepted the insult. From that moment, I designated myself as a nineteen year old. Actually, mom still spoon-feeds me.
Ouabam on January 1, 2007 at 5:17 PM
Always working that gas the enemy angle…
RalphyBoy on January 1, 2007 at 5:18 PM
I believe honora’s ex-husband was in the military…
…or not with a stupid or PC one…
And, I hear that Ahmadinejad and Chavez, also Castro, can be pretty charismatic. Also, Kim Jong Il apparently plays musical instruments and likes classical music.
Everything is a matter of perspective and the media and idealists don’t have any. Or they have it in favor of tyrants. How such ‘intelligent’ elitists can’t realize this is completely beyond me. Hypocricy, pure and simple!
Entelechy on January 1, 2007 at 5:26 PM
Ellis should not have allowed the interview. He’s an Army Reserve Master Sargeant, a very senior enlisted man, who should know better.
Anybody can display human qualities. We’ve all seen photos of Saddam with his arm around the shoulders of a small child, huge grin on his face. So he read poetry, watered plants, and fed birds. This man seriously believed himself to be the spiritual heir to Nebuchadnezzar. He desired the title of king, not president. Surely he was a king, because we all know that his 100% election results were generated under threat of death. I suspect that he believed once he was handed over to the Iraqis he’d get free, so as long as he was in American custody he had hope. And just like the Gitmo detainees, he was being well cared for, so how bad is it really?
But none of that matters in the least. The photo AP put up under Ellis’s last quote says why. Despite pretenses to humanity, the man was inhuman, and responsible for immense inhumanity. That is all we need to know.
I don’t fault MSGT Ellis for his choices while doing his duty in caring for Saddam. I think him unwise for allowing his thoughts on it to be published.
Freelancer on January 1, 2007 at 5:51 PM
Hitler owned a dog does that make him more humaine ?
http://theseoultimes.com/ST/db2/images/1618-20050318092430.jpg
William Amos on January 1, 2007 at 5:56 PM
Well someone is still spoon feeding you Doogie. It is always best to tell the complete truth Doogie. You have never had a patient, you have only read a couple of books, you would like to be in med school someday (actually you never said this, but with all of the lies you posted I figured why would you have only one truth in your post). You are not a doctor in training. Doogie, you are a phony, a fake. You have no right to argue with someone with lies.
Thanks for the medical tips Doogie. Now how about the relationship built on honesty.
right2bright on January 1, 2007 at 6:20 PM
Saddam was a vile, disgusting, subhuman, murdering despot and a putrid piece of dog excrement . . . but other than that, he was really a nice guy.
rplat on January 1, 2007 at 6:38 PM
“Ouabam”, it is revealing that you take such pride in how you were made to look ridiculous as well as dishonest. You left out your “f*ck you”, “bitch” and other mature, intellectual comments that made up most of your drivel
I’ve read your postings, and you still have not put forth one original thought–none of you leftie trolls ever does. You spout the same lame tired garbage, and try to pick at anything you see as making all conservatives look bad
These threads are a discussion among like-minded adults, not target practice for a spoiled, self-absorbed child.
Every time you voice your sympathy for Saddam, you only look worse to most of the people here
….and no one cares about your age. I said you SOUNDED eighteen, maybe nineteen. That was an over-estimate…
Janos Hunyadi on January 1, 2007 at 6:53 PM
1. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if the good Master Sergeant had been approved to give an interview – if not, he’ll soon hear about it.
2. I feel he did a good job in the interview. He really didn’t way much. Like another poster said, it was a fairly good non-answer. He was decent, polite, well-spoken, etc. What a servicemember should be in an interview.
3. Not all liberals are in the Med Corps and JAG. I knew plenty in Military Intelligence and the AG and infantry and even some in SF (not many).
4. I’ve met my VERY fair share of gung-ho types in both Med and JAG – airborne, pathfinder, ranger (chaplains with SF tabs) You meet slugs in ALL branches of the military and in each career field of each branch, whether it be SF, MI, AG, IN, etc.
5. Any person in this guy’s position would have to maintain a fairly neutral attitude about his duties. You’re there to carry out a responsibility and a duty – not issue verdicts, judgments, and vengence. Remember, for every guy/girl out there killing bad guys and we’re saying “great job” to ‘em for doing that – keeping us safe, there are also those who are doing the unpleasant jobs like this one.
6. Remember also there were guards and medical staff supporting the Nuremburg prisoners after WW2.
7. I sure wouldn’t want to humanize Saddam (can’t stand the guy and he deserved to be executed). But what person wouldn’t talk about family in that situation? Looking at it another way, Saddam could have easily been looking to see if he could use Ellison as a confidante or cohort in an escape or some other scenario. One of the first steps in collecting intelligence is befriending someone and turning them into a source.
8. He was ordered to keep the guy alive – no matter how he had to do it. He was given a lawful and direct order by a superior ranking officer.
I spent 21 years in the military. So I don’t speak from a lack of experience.
All of you folks complaining about this guy I wonder two things: 1) Have you ever served in the military? 2) What would you have done in his shoes and NOT risk a Article 32 hearing or 15-6 investigation?
If anything the guy has my complete sympathy. I’d not want the job he had.
armyvet on January 1, 2007 at 6:58 PM
I feel he did a good job in the interview. He really didn’t
waymuch.He really didn’t give away much.
Sorry for the typo.
armyvet on January 1, 2007 at 6:59 PM
Give the MSGT a break. “We don’t do politics” is a common enough saying among the .mil; for better or worse, they do “following orders” which are given by (if you go far enough up the chain) by those who are doing politics.
I thought it was an interesting article, and found nothing bowl-worthy about it.
htom on January 1, 2007 at 6:59 PM
Copy that, armyvet. Well said
Janos Hunyadi on January 1, 2007 at 7:15 PM
Follow your own advice. Don’t feed the trolls. I find it interesting that most of you actually respond to what I say with such vehemence. I also took time out to google all your comments and others’ comments in this site. You guys have a history of attacking others. And I actually wanted Allah to ban me when I posted those violent comments. If you think that I am fraudulent, ignore me. I neither gain anything nor lose a dime commenting on this site. I might sound questionable to all of you. Defending myself is pushing me over the edge. If you want me out of this site, ban me. I don’t have time like any of you to go hating people. Let’s just end it here or keep on the circle of insults. You might think getting rid of me is winning the war between Conservs and libs. I am just laughing. That’s all.
Ouabam on January 1, 2007 at 7:42 PM
“Over the edge”, eh? You’re a funny little boy, Ouabam. Aren’t you a little young to be taking so many meds?
Your comments weren’t “violent”–what Saddam did to the Iraqi people was violent. Your problem is that you don’t know the difference
Janos Hunyadi on January 1, 2007 at 7:54 PM
Quabam, no vehemence intended, and I think that it is fine that you post here, glad to have you. It is just important to have honest postings. And I had just noticed that you were, well let me put it this way, shading the truth a bit. Pretending to be a medical doctor, pretending to have knowledge, and using that pretend knowledge to attack other people.
Please keep posting, now that we know who you are and what ethics you adhere to. You are typical of most liberals, who will say and do most anything to try to get their point across. You will use lies as a basis of argument, then cry foul when they are pointed out.
The best phrase to use is; you have been exposed or you have been outed.
Just to make it clear, when I point out that you lied in your postings, that is not an attack, it is a fact. Facts are something that liberals have a hard time understanding, so I understand your confusion.
right2bright on January 1, 2007 at 8:09 PM
LOL!
armyvet on January 1, 2007 at 8:15 PM
I am not a medical doctor for the record. I apologize for making anyone to think so.
It was a overstatement.
I was not disputing your comments. I just added some context. I cannot provide a physical evidence, only words.
I try to distinguish between opinions and facts. The need for Saddam to be executed for destroying his people is an opinion. The fact is that he actually killed his people.
I did not understand what you were trying to say.
Ouabam on January 1, 2007 at 8:43 PM
They don’t. The people of Iraq who want to live in a free country, where the rule of law prevails (instead of institutionalized low-intensity tribal warfare, in the form of pressure-group politics feeding corrupt members of the ruling tribe at the expense of the others) are the ones who deserve for the parties to a legal controversy to be treated with dignity and respect.
That the execution became a Mookie al-Sadr pep rally was not a Good Thing. Let’s try a little thought experiment. Imagine that a Republican went on a killing spree, was convicted and sentenced to death. Now imagine that the doctor has put the needle in his arm, but the valve to turn on the nasty stuff hasn’t been opened yet, and the prison guards started chanting “Hillary, Hillary, Hillary!” or “Obama, Obama, Obama!”. No matter how bad the original crime might have been, the damage to the nation from such a spectacle would be unjustified.
Someone needs to have a private conversation with PM al-Maliki, and explain to him that the people who carry out sentences such as this need to STFU and do their jobs, and that anyone who has custody over a prisoner must go out of their way to promote the dignity of the nation. That means no sectarian comments, even though the execution was for killing Shi’a. When the co-defendants get their turn after Eid, there better not be a repeat of that ‘Moqtada’ crap.
When you sign up to be a medical professional, you put your personal feelings aside and do your damn job. I would prefer that the nurse had worded his response more along those lines, and explained to Saddam that for him to comment on such matters would be unprofessional, but it was close enough.
The Monster on January 1, 2007 at 11:02 PM
Agreed 150%. We’ll collectively pay for this later as it will seem that all is politics – even Saddam’s execution.
For my money, our government should have let our warfighters smoke al-Sadr when they had him. They didn’t, preferring to negotiate with and eventually legalize the militias.
What a boo-boo, to say the least. I fear it shall come back to haunt us.
Emmett J. on January 1, 2007 at 11:22 PM
What a foolish analogy. If a Repubulican… What the heck? Saddam didn’t go on a killing spree, he mass murdered people like Hitler, or Mussolini, or Pol Pot, or Kim Jong, or Idi Amin, or whatever commie, marxist, dictator you need to name…notice no democracy could be named. If the people who he tortured, mass murdered, stole their familes, want to celebrate his death…let them. I would bet that if Saddam had taken your child (assuming you are old enough) had them torn apart by dogs while making you watch, you would dance at his death. If a whole neighboring village of a thousand people were lined up and shot, then buried (including woman, children and infants) you would dance at his death. You get to sit behind a computer and point fingers in the safety of your home. The worst thing that happens to you, is some guy posts on a thread that you do not understand the depths of anguish, pain, and suffering, that people go through when lives are destroyed by the whim of a dictator. And you will ignore the post, because you don’t get it.
right2bright on January 2, 2007 at 12:20 AM
Saddam was evil and of the devil. He had no redeeming value. Seen enough non partisan documentaries on the bastard and his evil sons. I care nothing of the hecklers nor the people who are accused of “gloating” over his death. Who cares! I care about the people he victimized.
All I feel now is a sense of justice and peace now that one more evil doer is dead. That picture of the kurd mother/baby get me every time. Anyone who can stand up for that and feel even a remote sadness for the evil can talk to my hand.
The nurse should have just stfu. Simple.
Highrise on January 2, 2007 at 2:40 AM
Looks like I should have read a few other sources about the nurse…it’s looking like the AP spun this about the nurse. I take back what I said..the last sentence.
Highrise on January 2, 2007 at 4:18 AM
OK..ALLAH—–I think you later removed a comment I left eary yesterday that DID POST, I saw it… the comment went something like this…….
So obviously, Allah, you don’t have long curly hair that needs to be held back when you V O M I T . Nuanced, I know, but if Michelle was doing the moderating—SHE would get it. DUH. Get it?
LOVE YOU , ALLAH…
seejanemom on January 2, 2007 at 7:39 AM
Maybe I was hung over and my thoughts weren’t clear…..maybe I was dizzy sick and can’t remember where I left that comment after all…..
I need to go wash my hair.
seejanemom on January 2, 2007 at 7:51 AM
In the past, more so, agreed. But not any longer. One phrase – the recent court innovation and so called right to abortion.
AZ_Redneck on January 2, 2007 at 10:05 AM
Saddam was a classic bully who sucks up to authority when in an inferior position then lashes out wildly when in a superior position. It doesn’t surprise me at all that he tries to appeal to the human side of those with power over him, like the Army nurse. Give him power again and he would toss that same Army nurse into the plastic shredder, feet first to hear him scream. Like the others.
I recall the account of an Iraqi doctor who treated Saddam’s wife. She had burns on her arms, burns that looked like somebody had burned her with a lit cigarette. She wouldn’t answer the doctor’s questions about how she got them. All she would say was that it wasn’t easy being the wife of Saddam.
Saddam had a favorite saying which his underlings often repeated: You get people to do what you want by hurting them. That’s why Saddam burned his wife. That’s why he threw his own son in prison. That’s why virtually all Saddam’s lieutenants were thrown in prison for a couple weeks of torture, to keep up the level of fear. That’s why Saddam wiped out whole populations of Iraqis.
If anything, this Army nurse’s account illustrates what a cowardly little creep Saddam was. He stood for nothing but his own ego, perfectly willing to tear humans to pieces to satisfy its whims and confirm his supremacy. The world is a better place without him. His death should give his peers a lot to think about.
Tantor on January 2, 2007 at 6:41 PM
armyvet,
I wouldn’t dream of disagreeing with a word you said about MSGT Ellis. Tough job, tough situation. As one of those who criticized, I accept what you say. To answer your question, I too did 21 years, most of it in F-14 squadrons.
My criticism was not about how Ellis handled himself in dealing with Saddam. Telling an interviewer that Saddam was “gangsta”, which carries a positive note of admiration, is somewhat disturbing to me. That’s all.
Freelancer on January 3, 2007 at 3:32 AM
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