WASHINGTON — Americans on Wednesday night got their first extended look in years at Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, who appealed for peace as the United States continued to prepare for a war to oust him.
In a rambling interview with Dan Rather of CBS News, Hussein showed little of the menace that marked his appearances before the Persian Gulf War in 1991, when he vowed to wage the "mother of all battles." He wore a dark suit with a striped tie rather than the military uniform and black beret he often dons.
Though he wore civilian garb, Hussein appeared resigned to war. The Iraqi dictator was firm in rejecting exile to prevent a U.S.-led invasion, a plan floated by some Arab leaders and endorsed by the White House. "I was born here in Iraq.... We will die here. We will die in this country and we will maintain our honor -- the honor that is required -- in front of our people."
The highlights of Hussein's comments have been made public in recent days. He again denied Bush administration claims that Baghdad is engaged in a clandestine effort to develop and produce poison gases, germ agents and nuclear weapons in defiance of repeated United Nations resolutions.
Hussein insisted that his government has fully cooperated with U.N. inspection teams that have searched hundreds of Iraqi sites since November. It is the Bush administration, he said, that is pushing "the huge lie ... against Iraq about chemical, biological and nuclear weapons."
It wasn't the statements that made news, but just that Hussein had granted the interview and that Americans were able to see the man who has been an object of derision for more than a decade. He has been portrayed by the Bush administration as an incarnation of evil willing to kill his own people with poison gases, and whose regime, with its alleged weapons of mass destruction, threatens peace efforts across the Middle East.
But as he sat in a white chair edged in gilt, Hussein appeared calm and solemn, polite and solicitous. His message, over and over, was that both he and Iraq are innocent victims of U.S. aggression.
U.S. officials fiercely denied that portrayal, and they denounced Hussein's apparent charm offensive as self-serving propaganda, not a serious proposal to advance peace. Earlier, the interview sparked an unusual exchange between the White House and CBS over who was using whom.
