What actually occurred is the following: Saddam inquired as to the identity of his visitors; when my name was mentioned he said: “We know of you; you were foreign minister” (pre-Ba’ath regime, 1966-1967); “and what are you doing with these people?” I answered that I am working to establish democracy in Iraq. He replied that democracy existed under his regime, as could be seen from his overwhelming “free” election to the presidency, and the Legislative Assembly.
I answered that his regime had been “brutal and dictatorial” and that he had been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. He countered that Iraq needed a “just and firm ruler”. I said: “You were not a just ruler, but a cruel, brutal one.” I can only assume that Ambassador Bremer was not given an accurate translation of the conversation that took place.
Dr Adnan Pachachi
Former member of the governing council of Iraq (2003-2004)