Abd Al-Jabbar Muhsen, Former Press Secretary to Saddam Hussein: Iraqi Minister of Information Told Saddam that Iraqi Soldiers Would Be Victorious Because They Eat Bread While American Soldiers Eat Chocolate; Wife of Iraqi Minister of Religious Endowment Dreamt that the Prophet Muhammad Promised to Take Care of American Planes and Missiles

Following are excerpts from an interview with Abd Al-Jabbar Muhsen, former press secretary of Saddam Hussein, which aired on July 9, 2007:

Interviewer: Do you think Saddam Hussein expected that his regime would fall in such a terrible manner?

Abd Al-Jabbar Muhsen: He did not expect it. He relied on what the members of the Iraqi lneadership told him – that the people are united around him.

Interviewer: Which members of the leadership – those who were applauding him?

Abd Al-Jabbar Muhsen: Yes. He relied on what the military kept telling him as well. In fact, this was one aspect of the tragedy. When a minister says to Saddam: "When my wife was sleeping, she saw the Prophet Muhammad, who asked her to tell Saddam Hussein that he is responsible for the ground, and the Prophet will take care of the skies. In other words, the Prophet would take care of the American planes and missiles, and the only thing Saddam Hussein had to do was to hold onto the land.

Interviewer: Who was this minister?

Abd Al-Jabbar Muhsen: It was the minister of religious endowment, and it was aired on TV. One officer once said... If I were Saddam Hussein, I would have punished this officer on the spot. He said: "These Americans are cowards, because if they were courageous, they would have confronted us face-to-face, rather than coming at us from behind." A major-general must not say such things. A war involves frontal attacks, attacks from the sides...

Interviewer: But this was said by Tareq Aziz. He said if the Americans have any courage, they should confront us man-to-man, face-to-face."

Abd Al-Jabbar Muhsen: Let me say that this kind of talk is backward, and does not belong to our times.

[...]

Face-to-face? We don't have a contract with them, and this is not a boxing match between Patterson and Muhammad Ali Clay. There is no such thing as face-to-face in military confrontations. Our information minister said on day that the Americans eat Chocolate, while our soldiers eat bread, and so our soldiers will be victorious. This shows how naive the people in charge were. You cannot win a war with such naiveté.