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SE Xl U.S. Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation In Reply, Please Refer to Baghdad Operations Center Pile No. February 8, 2004 Interview Session Number: 2 Interview Conducted by: SSA Geor Pi bé SSA b7c Arabic/English Translation: Y€) Saddam Hussein (High Value Detainee #1) was interviewed on February 8, 2004 ata military detention facility at Baghdad International Airport (BIAP), Baghdad, Iraq. Hussein provided the following information: est Hussein stated the farm where he was captured in December, 2003 was the same location he stayed in 1959 after fleeing Baghdad upon participating in a failed assassination attempt on then Iraqi President Qassem. XS) Hussein was asked whether the decision to go to war against Iran in September, 1980 was based on threats from Iran or whether the war was a means of reclaiming Arab/Iraqi territory, specifically the Shatt-~-al-Arab Waterway. Hussein stated, "We consider the war as having started on September 4, not September 22, as the Iranians state." Hussein then provided an example of a farmer who is your neighbor next door. Hussein prefers to use farming/rural examples as they have special meaning to him. One day, the neighbor's son beats up your son. The next day, the neighbor's son bothers your cows. Subsequently, the neighbor's son damages your farmland by disturbing the irrigation system. If all these things have occurred, eventually, after enough incidents, you approach your neighbor, tell him each transgression by event and ask him to stop. Usually, a warning Or approach to the neighbor is enough to stop this behavior. With Iran, however, this approach by Iraq did not work. Iran, in Hussein's opinion, was in violation of the 1975 "Algiers Agreement" concerning the waterway. Furthermore, Iran was also deemed to have interfered in Iraqi politics, also a violation of the treaty. In Hussein's opinion, this left Iraq no choice but D y On: Xi DECLASSIFIED BY uc/baw €0324 ON Q5-O5-2003 This document contains neither recommendations Ee BAT of the FBI. It is the property of the FEI and is loaned ta your agency; it and its contents are not to be cistributed outside your agency.