The night Saddam was captured [link fixed]

What was the most fascinating story Saddam told you?

The deal he made with the Ayatollah Khomeini. Khomeini was hiding from the shah in Karbala, Iraq. Khomeini is a Shia Muslim. Saddam was Sunni, the very clear minority in Iraq. Clearly this Shia cleric’s presence in Sunni-controlled but Shia-majority Iraq was a threat to Saddam. Saddam was at this time the second in charge of Iraq. He goes down to Karbala, meets with Khomeini, and Saddam tells me he said, “Here is the deal. You can hide out, but if you get in control of Iran, you cede some coastline to me so I can get my oil shipping out of the country more easily.” When Khomeini got in power in Iran during the revolution, he reneged on the deal, and that’s why Saddam said he went to war, because Khomeini broke the deal. This is not in history books, but Hussein told me that was why he went to war, because Khomeini broke the deal.